Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T00:58:10.586Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Eclipsing binary distances to the edge of the Local Group

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2013

Alceste Z. Bonanos*
Affiliation:
Institute of Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing, National Observatory of Athens, Metaxa & Pavlou, Palaia Penteli 15236, Greece email: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Eclipsing binaries are powerful tools for determining the fundamental parameters of stars and, therefore, for measuring accurate, independent distances to nearby galaxies. I present distance measurements that are in progress based on early-type eclipsing binary systems in several Local Group galaxies at a range of metallicities, and discuss the strengths of the method, the limitations and possible sources of systematic error. The goal is to establish several local stepping stones along the extragalactic distance ladder, which will help calibrate the Cepheid period–luminosity relation and thus resolve the ongoing controversy about the distance scale, with its ramifications for cosmology and stellar ages.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2013

References

Andersen, J. 1991, A&ARv, 3, 91Google Scholar
Bonanos, A. Z., Stanek, K. Z., Sasselov, D. D., et al. 2003, AJ, 126, 175Google Scholar
Bonanos, A. Z., Stanek, K. Z., Kudritzki, R. P., et al. 2006, ApJ, 652, 313Google Scholar
Bonanos, A. Z. 2009, ApJ, 691, 407Google Scholar
Bonanos, A. Z., Castro, N., Macri, L. M., & Kudritzki, R. P. 2011, ApJ, 729, L9Google Scholar
Bresolin, F., Urbaneja, M., Gieren, E., et al. 2007, ApJ, 652, 313Google Scholar
Castro, N., Urbaneja, M. A., Herrero, A., et al. 2012, A&A, 542, 79Google Scholar
Chavez, J. M., Macri, L. M., Pellerin, A., et al. 2012, AJ, 144, 113CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faccioli, L., Alcock, C., Cook, K., et al. 2007, AJ, 134, 1963CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitzpatrick, E. L., Ribas, I., Guinan, E. F., et al. 2003, ApJ, 587, 685CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freedman, W. L. 1988, AJ, 96, 1248CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freedman, W. L., Madore, B. F., Gibson, B. K., et al. 2001, ApJ, 553, 47Google Scholar
Graczyk, D., Soszynski, I., Poleski, R., et al. 2011, Acta Astron., 61, 103Google Scholar
Guinan, E. F., Fitzpatrick, E. L., Dewarf, L. E., et al. 1998, ApJ, 509, L21Google Scholar
Harries, T. J., Hilditch, R. W., & Howarth, I. D. 2003, MNRAS, 339, 157Google Scholar
Hilditch, R. W., Howarth, I. D., & Harries, T. J. 2005, MNRAS, 357, 304Google Scholar
Kim, S., Staveley-Smith, L., & Dopita, M. A. 1998, ApJ, 503, 674Google Scholar
Macri, L. M., Stanek, K. Z., Sasselov, D. D., et al. 2001, AJ, 121, 870Google Scholar
Meixner, M., Gordon, K. D., Indebetouw, R., et al. 2006, AJ, 132, 2268CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Michalska, G. & Pigulski, A. 2005, A&A, 434, 89Google Scholar
Nikolaev, S., et al. 2004, ApJ, 601, 260Google Scholar
North, P., Gauderon, R., Barblan, F., & Royer, F. 2010, A&A, 520, 74Google Scholar
Olsen, K. A. G., Salyk, C. 2002, AJ, 124, 2045CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paczyński, B. 1997, in: The Extragalactic Distance Scale, STScI Symp. Ser. (Livio, M., ed.), Cambridge Univ. Press, p. 273Google Scholar
Pejcha, O. & Stanek, K. Z. 2009, ApJ, 704, 1730Google Scholar
Pietrzyński, G., Gieren, W., Soszynski, I., et al. 2006, AJ, 128, 2815Google Scholar
Pietrzyński, G., Thompson, I. B., Graczyk, D., et al. 2009, ApJ, 697, 862Google Scholar
Ribas, I., Jordi, C., Vilardell, F., et al. 2004, New Astron. Rev., 48, 755Google Scholar
Ribas, I., Jordi, C., Vilardell, F., et al. 2005, ApJ, 635, L37Google Scholar
Schaefer, B. E. 2008, AJ, 135, 112Google Scholar
Scowcroft, V., Bersier, D., Mould, J. R., & Wood, P. R. 2009, MNRAS, 396, 1287CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanek, K. Z., Kaluzny, J., Krockenberger, M., et al. 1998, AJ, 115, 1894Google Scholar
Subramanian, S. & Subramanian, A. 2010, A&A, 520, 24Google Scholar
Torres, G., Andersen, J., & Gimenez, A. 2010, A&ARv, 18, 67Google Scholar
U, V., Urbaneja, M. A., Kudritzki, R.-P., et al. 2009, ApJ, 704, 1120CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van der Marel, R. P., Alves, D. R., Hardy, E., et al. 2002, AJ, 124, 2639CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van der Marel, R. P. 2006, in: The Local Group as an Astrophysical Laboratory (Livio, M., & Brown, T.M., eds), p. 47Google Scholar
Vilardell, F., Ribas, I., Jordi, C., et al. 2010, A&A, 509, 70Google Scholar