The Near-infrared Tip of the Red Giant Branch. II. An Absolute Calibration in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Taylor J. Hoyt; Wendy L. Freedman; Barry F. Madore; Mark Seibert; Rachael L. Beaton; Dylan Hatt; In Sung Jang; Myung Gyoon Lee; Andrew J. Monson; Jeffrey A. Rich

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aab7ed

The Near-infrared Tip of the Red Giant Branch. II. An Absolute Calibration in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Taylor J. Hoyt
, Wendy L. Freedman
, Barry F. Madore
, Mark Seibert
, Rachael L. Beaton
, Dylan Hatt
, In Sung Jang
, Myung Gyoon Lee
, Andrew J. Monson
, Jeffrey A. Rich

Astronomy & Astrophysics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

39 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present a new empirical JHK absolute calibration of the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We use published data from the extensive Near-Infrared Synoptic Survey containing 3.5 million stars, 65,000 of which are red giants that fall within one magnitude of the TRGB. Adopting the TRGB slopes from a companion study of the isolated dwarf galaxy IC 1613, as well as an LMC distance modulus of μ₀ = 18.49 mag from (geometric) detached eclipsing binaries, we derive absolute JHK zero points for the near-infrared TRGB. For a comparison with measurements in the bar alone, we apply the calibrated JHK TRGB to a 500 deg² area of the 2MASS survey. The TRGB reveals the 3D structure of the LMC with a tilt in the direction perpendicular to the major axis of the bar, which is in agreement with previous studies.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	12
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Volume	858
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aab7ed
State	Published - May 1 2018

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

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10.3847/1538-4357/aab7ed

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@article{89b53b8dafca41e1bd277d4cf318b25f,

title = "The Near-infrared Tip of the Red Giant Branch. II. An Absolute Calibration in the Large Magellanic Cloud",

abstract = "We present a new empirical JHK absolute calibration of the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We use published data from the extensive Near-Infrared Synoptic Survey containing 3.5 million stars, 65,000 of which are red giants that fall within one magnitude of the TRGB. Adopting the TRGB slopes from a companion study of the isolated dwarf galaxy IC 1613, as well as an LMC distance modulus of μ0 = 18.49 mag from (geometric) detached eclipsing binaries, we derive absolute JHK zero points for the near-infrared TRGB. For a comparison with measurements in the bar alone, we apply the calibrated JHK TRGB to a 500 deg2 area of the 2MASS survey. The TRGB reveals the 3D structure of the LMC with a tilt in the direction perpendicular to the major axis of the bar, which is in agreement with previous studies.",

author = "Hoyt, \{Taylor J.\} and Freedman, \{Wendy L.\} and Madore, \{Barry F.\} and Mark Seibert and Beaton, \{Rachael L.\} and Dylan Hatt and Jang, \{In Sung\} and Lee, \{Myung Gyoon\} and Monson, \{Andrew J.\} and Rich, \{Jeffrey A.\}",

note = "Funding Information: We thank the Carnegie Institution for Science and the University of Chicago for their continuing generous support of our long-term research into the expansion rate of the universe. This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) and the Infrared Science Archive (IRSA), both of which are operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with NASA. Direct support for this work was also provided by NASA through grant number HST-GO-13691.003-A from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. Finally, we thank Macri et al. (2015) for making their near-infrared photometry freely available to the wider astronomical community. M.G.L. was supported by a grant from the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea, funded by the Korean Government (MSIP) (NRF-2017R1A2B4004632). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..",

year = "2018",

month = may,

day = "1",

doi = "10.3847/1538-4357/aab7ed",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "858",

journal = "Astrophysical Journal",

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T1 - The Near-infrared Tip of the Red Giant Branch. II. An Absolute Calibration in the Large Magellanic Cloud

AU - Hoyt, Taylor J.

AU - Freedman, Wendy L.

AU - Madore, Barry F.

AU - Seibert, Mark

AU - Beaton, Rachael L.

AU - Hatt, Dylan

AU - Jang, In Sung

AU - Lee, Myung Gyoon

AU - Monson, Andrew J.

AU - Rich, Jeffrey A.

N1 - Funding Information: We thank the Carnegie Institution for Science and the University of Chicago for their continuing generous support of our long-term research into the expansion rate of the universe. This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) and the Infrared Science Archive (IRSA), both of which are operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with NASA. Direct support for this work was also provided by NASA through grant number HST-GO-13691.003-A from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. Finally, we thank Macri et al. (2015) for making their near-infrared photometry freely available to the wider astronomical community. M.G.L. was supported by a grant from the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea, funded by the Korean Government (MSIP) (NRF-2017R1A2B4004632). Publisher Copyright: © 2018. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..

PY - 2018/5/1

Y1 - 2018/5/1

N2 - We present a new empirical JHK absolute calibration of the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We use published data from the extensive Near-Infrared Synoptic Survey containing 3.5 million stars, 65,000 of which are red giants that fall within one magnitude of the TRGB. Adopting the TRGB slopes from a companion study of the isolated dwarf galaxy IC 1613, as well as an LMC distance modulus of μ0 = 18.49 mag from (geometric) detached eclipsing binaries, we derive absolute JHK zero points for the near-infrared TRGB. For a comparison with measurements in the bar alone, we apply the calibrated JHK TRGB to a 500 deg2 area of the 2MASS survey. The TRGB reveals the 3D structure of the LMC with a tilt in the direction perpendicular to the major axis of the bar, which is in agreement with previous studies.

AB - We present a new empirical JHK absolute calibration of the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We use published data from the extensive Near-Infrared Synoptic Survey containing 3.5 million stars, 65,000 of which are red giants that fall within one magnitude of the TRGB. Adopting the TRGB slopes from a companion study of the isolated dwarf galaxy IC 1613, as well as an LMC distance modulus of μ0 = 18.49 mag from (geometric) detached eclipsing binaries, we derive absolute JHK zero points for the near-infrared TRGB. For a comparison with measurements in the bar alone, we apply the calibrated JHK TRGB to a 500 deg2 area of the 2MASS survey. The TRGB reveals the 3D structure of the LMC with a tilt in the direction perpendicular to the major axis of the bar, which is in agreement with previous studies.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85047740761

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85047740761#tab=citedBy

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DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/aab7ed

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85047740761

SN - 0004-637X

VL - 858

JO - Astrophysical Journal

JF - Astrophysical Journal

IS - 1

M1 - 12

ER -

The Near-infrared Tip of the Red Giant Branch. II. An Absolute Calibration in the Large Magellanic Cloud

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