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Register a new userThe distance of the long period Cepheid RS Puppis from its remarkable light echoes
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Authors
Pierre Kervella
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The Milky Way Cepheid RS Puppis is a particularly important calibrator for the Leavitt law (the Period-Luminosity relation). It is a rare, long period pulsator (P=41.5 days), and a good analog of the Cepheids observed in distant galaxies. It is the only known Cepheid to be embedded in a large (~0.5 pc) dusty nebula, that scatters the light from the pulsating star. Due to the light travel time delay introduced by the scattering on the dust, the brightness and color variations of the Cepheid imprint spectacular light echoes on the nebula. I here present a brief overview of the studies of this phenomenon, in particular through polarimetric imaging obtained with the HST/ACS camera. These observations enabled us to determine the geometry of the nebula and the distance of RS Pup. This distance determination is important in the context of the calibration of the Baade-Wesselink technique and of the Leavitt law.
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Context: The bright southern Cepheid RS Pup is surrounded by a circumstellar nebula reflecting the light from the central star. The propagation of the light variations from the Cepheid inside the dusty nebula creates spectacular light echoes that can be observed up to large distances from the star itself. This phenomenon is currently unique in this class of stars. Aims: For this relatively distant star, the trigonometric parallax available from Hipparcos has a low accuracy. A careful observation of the light echoes has the potential to provide a very accurate, geometric distance to RS Pup. Methods: We obtained a series of CCD images of RS Pup with the NTT/EMMI instrument, covering the variation period of the star (P=41.4d). This allowed us to track the progression of the light wavefronts over the nebular features surrounding the star. We measured precisely the phase lag of the photometric variation in several regions of the circumstellar nebula. Results: From our phase lag measurements, we derived a geometric distance of 1992 +/- 28 pc to RS Pup. This distance is affected by a total uncertainty of 1.4%, and corresponds to a parallax of pi = 0.502 +/- 0.007 mas and a distance modulus of mu = 11.50 +/- 0.03. Conclusions: The geometric distance we derived is by far the most accurate to a Cepheid, and among the most accurate to any star. RS Pup appears both as somewhat neglected and particularly promising to investigate the mass-loss history of Cepheids. Thanks to its highly accurate distance, it is also bound to become an important luminosity fiducial for the long period part of the period-luminosity diagram.
As one of the most luminous Cepheids in the Milky Way, the 41.5-day RS Puppis is an analog of the long-period Cepheids used to measure extragalactic distances. An accurate distance to this star would therefore help anchor the zero-point of the bright end of the period-luminosity relation. But, at a distance of about 2 kpc, RS Pup is too far away for measuring a direct trigonometric parallax with a precision of a few percent with existing instrumentation. RS Pup is unique in being surrounded by a reflection nebula, whose brightness varies as pulses of light from the Cepheid propagate outwards. We present new polarimetric imaging of the nebula obtained with HST/ACS. The derived map of the degree of linear polarization pL allows us to reconstruct the three-dimensional structure of the dust distribution. To retrieve the scattering angle from the pL value, we consider two different polarization models, one based on a Milky Way dust mixture and one assuming Rayleigh scattering. Considering the derived dust distribution in the nebula, we adjust a model of the phase lag of the photometric variations over selected nebular features to retrieve the distance of RS Pup. We obtain a distance of 1910 +/- 80 pc (4.2%), corresponding to a parallax of 0.524 +/- 0.022 mas. The agreement between the two polarization models we considered is good, but the final uncertainty is dominated by systematics in the adopted model parameters. The distance we obtain is consistent with existing measurements from the literature, but light echoes provide a distance estimate that is not subject to the same systematic uncertainties as other estimators (e.g. the Baade-Wesselink technique). RS Pup therefore provides an important fiducial for the calibration of systematic uncertainties of the long-period Cepheid distance scale.
The long-period Cepheid RS Pup is surrounded by a large dusty nebula reflecting the light from the central star. Due to the changing luminosity of the central source, light echoes propagate into the nebula. This remarkable phenomenon was the subject of Paper I.The origin and physical properties of the nebula are however uncertain: it may have been created through mass loss from the star itself, or it could be the remnant of a pre-existing interstellar cloud. Our goal is to determine the 3D structure of the nebula, and estimate its mass. Knowing the geometrical shape of the nebula will also allow us to retrieve the distance of RS Pup in an unambiguous manner using a model of its light echoes (in a forthcoming work). The scattering angle of the Cepheid light in the circumstellar nebula can be recovered from its degree of linear polarization. We thus observed the nebula surrounding RS Pup using the polarimetric imaging mode of the VLT/FORS instrument, and obtained a map of the degree and position angle of linear polarization. From our FORS observations, we derive a 3D map of the distribution of the dust, whose overall geometry is an irregular and thin layer. The nebula does not present a well-defined symmetry. Using a simple model, we derive a total dust mass of M(dust) = 2.9 +/- 0.9 Msun for the dust within 1.8 arcmin of the Cepheid. This translates into a total mass of M(gas+dust) = 290 +/- 120 Msun, assuming a dust-to-gas ratio of 1.0 +/- 0.3 %. The high mass of the dusty nebula excludes that it was created by mass-loss from the star. However, the thinness nebula is an indication that the Cepheid participated to its shaping, e.g. through its radiation pressure or stellar wind. RS Pup therefore appears as a regular long-period Cepheid located in an exceptionally dense interstellar environment.
The projection factor (p-factor) is an essential component of the classical Baade-Wesselink (BW) technique, that is commonly used to determine the distances to pulsating stars. It is a multiplicative parameter used to convert radial velocities into pulsational velocities. As the BW distances are linearly proportional to the p-factor, its accurate calibration for Cepheids is of critical importance for the reliability of their distance scale. We focus on the observational determination of the p-factor of the long-period Cepheid RS Pup (P = 41.5 days). This star is particularly important as this is one of the brightest Cepheids in the Galaxy and an analog of the Cepheids used to determine extragalactic distances. An accurate distance of 1910 +/- 80 pc (+/- 4.2%) has recently been determined for RS Pup using the light echoes propagating in its circumstellar nebula. We combine this distance with new VLTI/PIONIER interferometric angular diameters, photometry and radial velocities to derive the p-factor of RS Pup using the code Spectro-Photo-Interferometry of Pulsating Stars (SPIPS). We obtain p = 1.250 +/- 0.064 (+/-5.1%), defined for cross-correlation radial velocities. Together with measurements from the literature, the p-factor of RS Pup confirms the good agreement of a constant p = 1.293 +/- 0.039 (+/-3.0%) model with the observations. We conclude that the p-factor of Cepheids is constant or mildly variable over a broad range of periods (3.7 to 41.5 days).
A photometric UBV survey is presented for 610 stars in a region surrounding the Cepheid AQ Puppis and centered southwest of the variable, based upon photoelectric measures for 14 stars and calibrated iris photometry of photographic plates of the field for 596 stars. An analysis of reddening and distance for program stars indicates that the major dust complex in this direction is ~1.8 kpc distant, producing differential extinction described by a ratio of total-to-selective extinction of R=Av/E(B-V)=3.10+-0.20. Zero-age main-sequence fitting for the main group of B-type stars along the line of sight yields a distance of 3.21+-0.19 kpc (Vo-Mv=12.53+-0.13 s.e.). The 29.97d Cepheid AQ Pup, of field reddening E(B-V)=0.47+-0.07 (E(B-V)(B0)=0.51+-0.07), appears to be associated with B-type stars lying within 5 of it as well as with a sparse group of stars, designated Turner 14, centered south of it at J2000.0 = 07:58:37, -29:25:00, with a mean reddening of E(B-V)=0.81+-0.01. AQ Pup has an inferred luminosity as a cluster member of <Mv>=-5.40+-0.25 and an evolutionary age of 3x10^7 yr. Its observed rate of period increase of 300.1+-1.2 s/yr is an order of magnitude larger than what is observed for Cepheids of comparable period in the third crossing of the instability strip, and may be indicative of a high rate of mass loss or a putative fifth crossing. Another sparse cluster, designated Turner 13, surrounds the newly-recognized 2.59d Cepheid V620 Pup, of space reddening E(B-V)=0.64+-0.02 (E(B-V)(B0)=0.68+-0.02), distance 2.88+-0.11 kpc (Vo-Mv=12.30+-0.08 s.e.), evolutionary age 10^8 yr, and an inferred luminosity as a likely cluster member of <Mv>=-2.74+-0.11. V620 Pup is tentatively identified as a first crosser, pending additional observations.
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