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Cepheids and other variable stars and the distance to the Galactic Centre

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2013

Noriyuki Matsunaga
Noriyuki Matsunaga*
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan email: matsunaga@astron.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp
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Abstract

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We review and discuss results of our survey of variable stars towards the Galactic Centre and their distances. In our near-infrared monitoring survey using IRSF/SIRIUS, we detected a number of Miras and Cepheids (both classical and type II) within 20 arcmin of the Galactic Centre. These distance indicators yield a distance to the Galactic Centre of between 7.5 and 8.5 kpc. A new calibration of the red clump also leads to a distance of ~ 8 kpc. For these indicators, which are luminosity-based, a large uncertainty resides in the correction for the foreground extinction, which depends on the reddening law. Nevertheless, our estimates are consistent with previous estimates based the kinematics of stars near the Galactic Centre, and this supports the reddening law we use.

Keywords

Cepheidsstars: variables: otherGalaxy: centerdistance scale
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 8 , Symposium S289: Advancing the Physics of Cosmic Distances , August 2012 , pp. 109 - 115
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2013

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