A Preliminary Calibration of the RR Lyrae Period-Luminosity Relation at Mid-Infrared Wavelengths: WISE Data
Abstract
Using time-resolved, mid-infrared data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and geometric parallaxes from the Hubble Space Telescope for four Galactic RR Lyrae variables, we derive the following Population II period-luminosity (PL) relations for the WISE [W1], [W2], and [W3] bands at 3.4, 4.6, and 12 μm, respectively: M_([W1]) = −2.44(±0.95) × log(P) − 1.26(±0.25) σ = 0.10 M_([W2]) = −2.55(±0.89) × log(P) − 1.29(±0.23) σ = 0.10 M_([W3]) = −2.58(±0.97) × log(P) − 1.32(±0.25) σ = 0.10. The slopes and the scatter around the fits are consistent with a smooth extrapolation of those same quantities from previously published K-band observations at 2.2 μm, where the asymptotic (long-wavelength) behavior is consistent with a period-radius relation with a slope of 0.5. No obvious correlation with metallicity (spanning 0.4 dex in [Fe/H]) is found in the residuals of the four calibrating RR Lyrae stars about the mean PL regression line.
Additional Information
© 2013 American Astronomical Society. Received 2013 March 3; accepted 2013 August 14; published 2013 October 7. This work is based in part on observations made with the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), which was is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under a contract with NASA. Support for this work was provided by NASA through an award issued by JPL/Caltech. This research also made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) and the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA), both of which are operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. We thank Fritz Benedict for numerous frank and useful communications. The referee was especially helpful in bringing this paper to a more correct and fruitful completion.Attached Files
Published - 0004-637X_776_2_135.pdf
Submitted - 1308.3160v1.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 43147
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20131223-113614100
- NASA/JPL/Caltech
- Created
-
2013-12-23Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC)