No Arabic abstract
The distances of pulsating stars, in particular Cepheids, are commonly measured using the parallax of pulsation technique. The differe
The distance to pulsating stars is classically estimated using the parallax-of-pulsation (PoP) method, which combines spectroscopic radial velocity measurements and angular diameter estimates to derive the distance of the star. An important application of this method is the determination of Cepheid distances, in view of the calibration of their distance scale. However, the conversion of radial to pulsational velocities in the PoP method relies on a poorly calibrated parameter, the projection factor (p-factor). We aim to measure empirically the value of the p-factors of a homogeneous sample of nine Galactic Cepheids for which trigonometric parallaxes were measured with the Hubble Space Telescope Fine Guidance Sensor. We use the SPIPS algorithm, a robust implementation of the PoP method that combines photometry, interferometry, and radial velocity measurements in a global modeling of the pulsation. We obtained new interferometric angular diameters using the PIONIER instrument at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer, completed by data from the literature. Using the known distance as an input, we derive the value of the p-factor and study its dependence with the pulsation period. We find the following p-factors: 1.20 $pm$ 0.12 for RT Aur, 1.48 $pm$ 0.18 for T Vul, 1.14 $pm$ 0.10 for FF Aql, 1.31 $pm$ 0.19 for Y Sgr, 1.39 $pm$ 0.09 for X Sgr, 1.35 $pm$ 0.13 for W Sgr, 1.36 $pm$ 0.08 for $beta$ Dor, 1.41 $pm$ 0.10 for $zeta$ Gem, and 1.23 $pm$ 0.12 for $ell$ Car. These values are consistently close to p = 1.324 $pm$ 0.024. We observe some dispersion around this average value, but the observed distribution is statistically consistent with a constant value of the p-factor as a function of the pulsation period. The error budget of our determination of the p-factor values is presently dominated by the uncertainty on the parallax, a limitation that will soon be waived by Gaia.
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).
We focus on empirically measure the p-factor of a homogeneous sample of 29 LMC and 10 SMC Cepheids for which an accurate average LMC/SMC distance were estimated from eclipsing binary systems. We used the SPIPS algorithm, which is an implementation of the BW method. As opposed to other conventional use, SPIPS combines all observables, i.e. radial velocities, multi-band photometry and interferometry into a consistent physical modeling to estimate the parameters of the stars. The large number and their redundancy insure its robustness and improves the statistical precision. We successfully estimated the p-factor of several MC Cepheids. Combined with our previous Galactic results, we find the following P-p relation: -0.08(log P-1.18)+1.24. We find no evidence of a metallicity dependent p-factor. We also derive a new calibration of the P-R relation, logR=0.684(log P-0.517)+1.489, with an intrinsic dispersion of 0.020. We detect an IR excess for all stars at 3.6 and 4.5um, which might be the signature of circumstellar dust. We measure a mean offset of $Delta m_{3.6}=0.057$mag and $Delta m_{4.5}=0.065$mag. We provide a new P-p relation based on a multi-wavelengths fit, and can be used for the distance scale calibration from the BW method. The dispersion is due to the MCs width we took into account because individual Cepheids distances are unknown. The new P-R relation has a small intrinsic dispersion, i.e. 4.5% in radius. Such precision will allow us to accurately apply the BW method to nearby galaxies. Finally, the IR excesses we detect raise again the issue on using mid-IR wavelengths to derive P-L relation and calibrate the $H_0$. These IR excesses might be the signature of circumstellar dust, and are never taken into account when applying the BW method at those wavelengths. Our measured offsets may give an average bias of 2.8% on the distances derived through mid-IR P-L relations.
The Marshall Grazing Incidence X-ray Spectrometer (MaGIXS) is a sounding rocket experiment that observes the soft X-ray spectrum of the Sun from 6.0 - 24 Angstrom (0.5 - 2.0 keV), successfully launched on 30 July 2021. End-to-end alignment of the flight instrument and calibration experiments are carried out using the X-ray and Cryogenic Facility (XRCF) at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. In this paper, we present the calibration experiments of MaGIXS, which include wavelength calibration, measurement of line spread function, and determination of effective area. Finally, we use the measured instrument response function to predict the expected count rates for MaGIXS flight observation looking at a typical solar active region
We present the largest Cepheid sample in M31 based on the complete Pan-STARRS1 survey of Andromeda (PAndromeda) in the $r_{mathrm{P1}}$ , $i_{mathrm{P1}}$ and $g_{mathrm{P1}}$ bands. We find 2686 Cepheids with 1662 fundamental mode Cepheids, 307 first-overtone Cepheids, 278 type II Cepheids and 439 Cepheids with undetermined Cepheid type. Using the method developed by Kodric et al. (2013) we identify Cepheids by using a three dimensional parameter space of Fourier parameters of the Cepheid light curves combined with a color cut and other selection criteria. This is an unbiased approach to identify Cepheids and results in a homogeneous Cepheid sample. The Period-Luminosity relations obtained for our sample have smaller dispersions than in our previous work. We find a broken slope that we previously observed with HST data in Kodric et al. (2015), albeit with a lower significance.