Open AccessPeriod–colour and amplitude–colour relations for MACHO project Large Magellanic Cloud RR Lyrae stars
Author(s) -
Kanbur S. M.,
Fernando I.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society: letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.067
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1745-3933
pISSN - 1745-3925
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-3933.2005.00025.x
Subject(s) - rr lyrae variable , astrophysics , amplitude , physics , stars , light curve , small magellanic cloud , large magellanic cloud , period (music) , photosphere , astronomy , variable star , cepheid variable , phase (matter) , optics , spectral line , globular cluster , quantum mechanics , acoustics
In this Letter, we analyse period–colour and amplitude–colour relations at minimum, mean and maximum V ‐band light for 6391 RRab stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud obtained by the MACHO project. Specifically, we find that colour and amplitude are nearly independent of period at minimum light, but that there exists a definite relation between period and colour and amplitude and colour at maximum light. These two properties are consistent with earlier work suggesting that these observed properties are, at least to some extent, explained by the application of the Stefan–Boltzmann law and the interaction of the photosphere and hydrogen ionization front at minimum light. When we examine the slope of the period–colour relation as a function of phase, we find that the slope varies significantly with phase and is small for a wide range of phases around minimum light. This suggests that another factor that needs to be considered when trying to understand RR Lyrae observed properties is their behaviour at different phases during a pulsation cycle.