Open AccessPulsation at the tip of the first giant branch?
Author(s) -
Ita Yoshifusa,
Tanabé Toshihiko,
Matsunaga Noriyuki,
Nakajima Yasushi,
Nagashima Chie,
Nagayama Takahiro,
Kato Daisuke,
Kurita Mikio,
Nagata Tetsuya,
Sato Shuji,
Tamura Motohide,
Nakaya Hidehiko,
Nakada Yoshikazu
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2002.06109.x
Subject(s) - physics , red giant branch , astrophysics , sirius , variable star , red giant , infrared , astronomy , red clump , magnitude (astronomy) , stars , asymptotic giant branch , giant star , horizontal branch , galaxy , globular cluster , metallicity
The first results of our ongoing near‐infrared (NIR) survey of the variable red giants in the Large Magellanic Cloud, using the Infrared Survey Facility (IRSF) and the SIRIUS infrared camera, are presented. Many very red stars were detected and we found that most of them are variables. In the observed colour–magnitude diagram ( J − K , K ) and the stellar K magnitude distribution, the tip of the first giant branch (TRGB), where helium burning in the core starts, is clearly seen. Apart from the genuine AGB variables, we found many variable stars at luminosities around the TRGB. From this result, we infer that a substantial fraction of them are RGB variables.