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Register a new userTheoretical models for classical Cepheids. VIII. Effects of helium and heavy elements abundance on the Cepheid distance scale
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Previous nonlinear fundamental pulsation models for classical Cepheids with metal content Z <= 0.02 are implemented with new computations at super-solar metallicity (Z=0.03, 0.04) and selected choices of the helium-to-metal enrichment ratio DeltaY/Delta Z. On this basis, we show that the location into the HR diagram of the Cepheid instability strip is dependent on both metal and helium abundance, moving towards higher effective temperatures with decreasing the metal content (at fixed Y) or with increasing the helium content (at fixed Z). The contributions of helium and metals to the predicted Period-Luminosity and Period-Luminosity-Color relations are discussed, as well as the implications on the Cepheid distance scale. Based on these new results, we finally show that the empirical metallicity correction suggested by Cepheid observations in two fields of the galaxy M101 may be accounted for, provided that the adopted helium-to-metal enrichment ratio is reasonably high (Delta Y/Delta Z ~ 3.5).
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Context: Galactic abundance gradients set strong constraints to chemo-dynamical evolutionary models of the Milky Way. Given the PL relations that provide accurate distances and the large number of spectral lines, Cepheids are excellent tracers of the present-day abundance gradients. Aims: We want to measure the Galactic abundance gradient of several chemical elements. While the slope of the Cepheid iron gradient did not vary much from the very first studies, the gradients of the other elements are not that well constrained. In this paper we focus on the inner and outer regions of the Galactic thin disk. Methods: We use HR spectra (FEROS, ESPADONS, NARVAL) to measure the abundances of several light (Na, Al), alpha (Mg, Si, S, Ca), and heavy elements (Y, Zr, La, Ce, Nd, Eu) in a sample of 65 Milky Way Cepheids. Combining these results with accurate distances from period-Wesenheit relations in the NIR enables us to determine the abundance gradients in the Milky Way. Results: Our results are in good agreement with previous studies on either Cepheids or other tracers. In particular, we confirm an upward shift of approximatively 0.2 dex for the Mg abundances, as has recently been reported. We also confirm the existence of a gradient for all the heavy elements studied in the context of a LTE analysis. However, for Y, Nd, and especially La, we find lower abundances for Cepheids in the outer disk than reported in previous studies, leading to steeper gradients. This effect can be explained by the differences in the line lists used by different groups. Conclusions: Our data do not support a flattening of the gradients in the outer disk, in agreement with recent Cepheid studies and chemo-dynamical simulations. This is in contrast to the open cluster observations but remains compatible with a picture where the transition zone between the inner disk and the outer disk would move outward with time.
We present the results of a theoretical investigation aimed at testing whether full amplitude, nonlinear, convective models account for the I-band light curves of Bump Cepheids in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We selected two objects from the OGLE sample that show a well-defined bump along the decreasing (short-period) and the rising (long-period) branch respectively. We find that current models do reproduce the luminosity variation over the entire pulsation cycle if the adopted stellar mass is roughly 15 % smaller than predicted by evolutionary models that neglect both mass loss and convective core overshooting. Moreover, we find that the fit to the light curve of the long-period Cepheid located close to the cool edge of the instability strip requires an increase in the mixing length from 1.5 to 1.8 Hp. This suggests an increase in the efficiency of the convective transport when moving toward cooler effective temperatures. Current pulsation calculations supply a LMC distance modulus ranging from 18.48 to 18.58 mag.
Field reddenings are summarized for 68 Cepheids from published studies and updated results presented here. The compilation forms the basis for a comparison with other published reddening scales of Cepheids, including those established from reddening-independent indices, photometry on the Lick six-color system, Str{o}mgren system, Walraven system, Washington system, Cape $BVI$ system, DDO system, and Geneva system, IRSB studies, and Cepheid spectroscopy, both old and new. Reddenings tied to period-color relations are the least reliable, as expected, while photometric color excesses vary in precision, their accuracy depending on the methodology and calibration sample. The tests provide insights into the accuracy and precision of published Cepheid reddening scales, and lead to a new system of standardized reddenings comprising a sample of 198 variables with an average uncertainty of $pm0.028$ in E$_{B-V}$, the precision being less than $pm0.01$ for many. The collected color excesses are used to map the dispersion in intrinsic colors as a function of pulsation period, the results contradicting current perceptions about the period dependence of dispersion in Cepheid effective temperatures.
We report on the discovery of Cepheids in the field spiral galaxy NGC 3621, based on observations made with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). NGC 3621 is one of 18 galaxies observed as a part of The HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale, which aims to measure the Hubble constant to 10% accuracy. Sixty-nine Cepheids with periods in the range 9--60 days were observed over 12 epochs using the F555W filter, and 4 epochs using the F814W filter. The HST F555W and F814W data were transformed to the Johnson V and Kron-Cousins I magnitude systems, respectively. Photometry was performed using two independent packages, DAOPHOT II/ALLFRAME and DoPHOT. Period-luminosity relations in the V and I bands were constructed using 36 fairly isolated Cepheids present in our set of 69 variables. Extinction-corrected distance moduli relative to the LMC of 10.63 +/- 0.07 mag and 10.56 +/- 0.10 mag were obtained using the ALLFRAME and DoPHOT data, respectively. True distance moduli of 29.13 +/- 0.18 mag and 29.06 +/- 0.18 mag, corresponding to distances of 6.3 Mpc and 6.1 Mpc, were obtained by assuming values of 18.50 +/- 0.10 mag for the distance modulus of the LMC and E(V-I) = 0.13 mag for the reddening of the LMC.
We develop and describe a Bayesian statistical analysis to solve the surface brightness equations for Cepheid distances and stellar properties. Our analysis provides a mathematically rigorous and objective solution to the problem, including immunity from Lutz-Kelker bias. We discuss the choice of priors, show the construction of the likelihood distribution, and give sampling algorithms in a Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach for efficiently and completely sampling the posterior probability distribution. Our analysis averages over the probabilities associated with several models rather than attempting to pick the `best model from several possible models. Using a sample of thirteen Cepheids we demonstrate the method. We discuss diagnostics of the analysis and the effects of the astrophysical choices going into the model. We show that we can objectively model the order of Fourier polynomial fits to the light and velocity data. By comparison with theoretical models of Bono et al. (2001) we find that EU Tau and SZ Tau are overtone pulsators, most likely without convective overshoot. The period-radius and period-luminosity relations we obtain are shown to be compatible with those in the recent literature.
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