We consider the application of the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) in the optical and in the near-infrared for the determination of distances to nearby galaxies. We analyze ACS VI (F555W and ...F814W) data and self-consistently cross-calibrate WFC3-IR JH (F110W and F120W) data using an absolute magnitude calibration of MI = −4.05 mag as determined in the Large Magellanic Cloud using detached eclipsing binary star geometric parallaxes. We demonstrate how the optical and near-infrared calibrations of the TRGB method are mathematically self-consistent, and illustrate the mathematical basis and relations among these multiwavelength calibrations. We go on to present a method for determining the reddening, extinction, and the true modulus to the host galaxy using multiwavelength data. The power of the method is that with high-precision data, the reddening can be determined using the TRGB stars themselves, and decreases the systematic (albeit generally small) uncertainty in distance due to reddening for these halo stars.
Abstract
The Carnegie–Chicago Hubble Program (CCHP) is recalibrating the extragalactic SN Ia distance scale using exclusively Population II stars. This effort focuses on the Tip of the Red Giant ...Branch (TRGB) method, whose systematics are entirely independent of the Population I Cepheid-based determinations that have long served as calibrators for the SN Ia distance scale. We present deep
Hubble Space Telescope
imaging of the low surface density and low line-of-sight reddening halos of two galaxies, NGC 1448 and NGC 1316, each of which have been hosts to recent SN Ia events. Provisionally anchoring the TRGB zero-point to the geometric distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud derived from detached eclipsing binaries, we measure extinction-corrected distance moduli of
mag for NGC 1448 and
mag for NGC 1316, respectively, giving metric distances of
Mpc, and
Mpc. We find agreement between our result and the available Cepheid distance for NGC 1448; for NGC 1316, where there are relatively few published distances based on direct measurements, we find that our result is consistent with the published SN Ia distances whose absolute scales are set from other locally determined methods such as Cepheids. For NGC 1448 and NGC 1316, our distances are some of the most precise (and systematically accurate) measurements with errors at 1.7 (2.8)% and 1.6 (2.7)% levels, respectively.
Abstract
We present a new calibration of the
J
-band absolute magnitude of the JAGB method based on thermally pulsing AGB stars that are members of Milky Way open clusters, having distances and ...reddenings, independently compiled and published by Marigo. A total 17 of these photometrically selected J-Branch AGB stars give
M
J
= −6.40 mag with a scatter of ±0.40 mag, and 1
σ
on the mean of ±0.10 mag. Combining the Milky Way field carbon star calibration of Lee with this determination gives a weighted average of
M
J
(MW) = −6.19 ± 0.04 mag (error on the mean). This value is statistically indistinguishable from the value determined for this population of distance indicators in the LMC and SMC, giving further evidence that JAGB stars are extremely reliable distance indicators of high luminosity and universal applicability. Combining the zero-points for JAGB stars in these three systems, a value of
M
J
= −6.20 ± 0.01 (stat) ±0.04 (sys) mag becomes our best current estimate of the JAGB zero-point and its associated errors. Finally, we note that no evidence is found for any statistically significant dependence of this zero-point on metallicity.
We present an updated analysis of the intrinsic colors of Type Ia supernova (SNe Ia) using the latest data release of the Carnegie Supernova Project. We introduce a new light-curve parameter very ...similar to stretch that is better suited for fast-declining events, and find that these peculiar types can be seen as extensions to the population of "normal" SNe Ia. With a larger number of objects, an updated fit to the Lira relation is presented along with evidence for a dependence on the late-time slope of the B - V light-curves with stretch and color. Using the full wavelength range from u to H band, we place constraints on the reddening law for the sample as a whole and also for individual events/hosts based solely on the observed colors. The photometric data continue to favor low values of R sub(V), though with large variations from event to event, indicating an intrinsic distribution. We confirm the findings of other groups that there appears to be a correlation between the derived reddening law, R sub(V), and the color excess, E(B - V), such that larger E(B - V) tends to favor lower R sub(V). The intrinsic u-band colors show a relatively large scatter that cannot be explained by variations in R sub(V) or by the Goobar power-law for circumstellar dust, but rather is correlated with spectroscopic features of the supernova and is therefore likely due to metallicity effects.
Abstract
We present an absolute calibration of the J-region Asymptotic Giant Branch (JAGB) method using published photometry of resolved stars in 20 nearby galaxies observed with the Hubble Space ...Telescope using the WFC3-IR camera and the F110W (broad
J
-band) filter. True distance moduli for each of the galaxies are based on the Tip of the Red Giant Branch (TRGB) method as uniformly determined by Dalcanton et al. From a composite color–magnitude diagram composed of over 6 million stars, leading to a sample of 453 JAGB stars in these galaxies, we find
M
F
110
W
JAGB
=
−
5.77
±
0.02
mag (statistical error on the mean). The external scatter seen in a comparison of the individual TRGB and the JAGB moduli is ±0.081 mag (or 4% in distance). Some of this scatter can be attributed to small number statistics arising from the sparse JAGB populations found in the generally low-luminosity galaxies that comprise the particular sample studied here. However, if this intermethod scatter is shared equitably between the JAGB and TRGB methods, that implies that each is good to ±0.06 mag, or better than 3% in distance.
We present new theoretical period-luminosity-metallicity (PLZ) relations for RR Lyræ stars (RRLs) at Spitzer and WISE wavelengths. The PLZ relations were derived using nonlinear, time-dependent ...convective hydrodynamical models for a broad range of metal abundances (Z = 0.0001-0.0198). In deriving the light curves, we tested two sets of atmospheric models and found no significant difference between the resulting mean magnitudes. We also compare our theoretical relations to empirical relations derived from RRLs in both the field and in the globular cluster M4. Our theoretical PLZ relations were combined with multi-wavelength observations to simultaneously fit the distance modulus, 0, and extinction, AV, of both the individual Galactic RRL and of the cluster M4. The results for the Galactic RRL are consistent with trigonometric parallax measurements from Gaia's first data release. For M4, we find a distance modulus of 0 = 11.257 0.035 mag with AV = 1.45 0.12 mag, which is consistent with measurements from other distance indicators. This analysis has shown that, when considering a sample covering a range of iron abundances, the metallicity spread introduces a dispersion in the PL relation on the order of 0.13 mag. However, if this metallicity component is accounted for in a PLZ relation, the dispersion is reduced to ∼0.02 mag at mid-infrared wavelengths.
Abstract
The J-region Asymptotic Giant Branch (JAGB) method is a standard candle that leverages the constant luminosities of color-selected, carbon-rich AGB stars, measured in the near-infrared at ...1.2
μ
m. The Chicago-Carnegie Hubble Program has obtained JWST imaging of the SN Ia host galaxies NGC 7250, NGC 4536, and NGC 3972. With these observations, the JAGB method can be studied for the first time using JWST. Lee et al. demonstrated the JAGB magnitude is optimally measured in the outer disks of galaxies, because in the inner regions the JAGB magnitude can vary significantly due to a confluence of reddening, blending, and crowding effects. However, determining where the “outer disk” lies can be subjective. Therefore, we introduce a novel method for systematically selecting the outer disk. In a given galaxy, the JAGB magnitude is first separately measured in concentric regions, and the “outer disk” is then defined as the first radial bin where the JAGB magnitude stabilizes to a few hundredths of a magnitude. After successfully employing this method in our JWST galaxy sample, we find the JAGB stars are well segregated from other stellar populations in color–magnitude space, and have observed dispersions about their individual F115W modes of
σ
N7250
= 0.32 mag,
σ
N4536
= 0.34 mag, and
σ
N3972
= 0.35 mag. These measured dispersions are similar to the scatter measured for the JAGB stars in the LMC using 2MASS data (
σ
= 0.33 mag). In conclusion, the JAGB stars as observed with JWST clearly demonstrate their considerable power both as high-precision extragalactic distance indicators and as SN Ia supernova calibrators.
ABSTRACT We provide evidence that UGC 1382, long believed to be a passive elliptical galaxy, is actually a giant low surface brightness (GLSB) galaxy that rivals the archetypical GLSB Malin 1 in ...size. Like other GLSB galaxies, it has two components: a high surface brightness disk galaxy surrounded by an extended low surface brightness (LSB) disk. For UGC 1382, the central component is a lenticular system with an effective radius of 6 kpc. Beyond this, the LSB disk has an effective radius of ∼38 kpc and an extrapolated central surface brightness of ∼26 mag arcsec−2. Both components have a combined stellar mass of ∼8 × 1010 M , and are embedded in a massive (1010 M ) low-density (<3 M pc−2) HI disk with a radius of 110 kpc, making this one of the largest isolated disk galaxies known. The system resides in a massive dark matter halo of at least 2 × 1012 M . Although possibly part of a small group, its low-density environment likely plays a role in the formation and retention of the giant LSB and HI disks. We model the spectral energy distributions and find that the LSB disk is likely older than the lenticular component. UGC 1382 has UV-optical colors typical of galaxies transitioning through the green valley. Within the LSB disk are spiral arms forming stars at extremely low efficiencies. The gas depletion timescale of ∼1011 years suggests that UGC 1382 may be a very-long-term resident of the green valley. We find that the formation and evolution of the LSB disk in UGC 1382 is best explained by the accretion of gas-rich LSB dwarf galaxies.
Abstract We present near-infrared JHK photometry for the resolved stellar populations in 13 nearby galaxies: NGC 6822, IC 1613, NGC 3109, Sextans B, Sextans A, NGC 300, NGC 55, NGC 7793, NGC 247, NGC ...5253, Cen A, NGC 1313, and M83, acquired from the 6.5 m Baade–Magellan telescope. We measure distances to each galaxy using the J-region asymptotic giant branch (JAGB) method, a new standard candle that leverages the constant luminosities of color-selected, carbon-rich AGB stars. While only single-epoch, random-phase photometry is necessary to derive JAGB distances, our photometry is time-averaged over multiple epochs, thereby decreasing the contribution of the JAGB stars’ intrinsic variability to the measured dispersions in their observed luminosity functions. To cross-validate these distances, we also measure near-infrared tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) distances to these galaxies. The residuals obtained from subtracting the distance moduli from the two methods yield an rms scatter of σ JAGB−TRGB = ±0.07 mag. Therefore, all systematics in the JAGB method and TRGB method (e.g., crowding, differential reddening, star formation histories) must be contained within these ±0.07 mag bounds for this sample of galaxies because the JAGB and TRGB distance indicators are drawn from entirely distinct stellar populations and are thus affected by these systematics independently. Finally, the composite JAGB star luminosity function formed from this diverse sample of galaxies is well described by a Gaussian function with a modal value of M J = –6.20 ± 0.003 mag (stat), indicating that the underlying JAGB star luminosity function of a well-sampled full star formation history is highly symmetric and Gaussian based on over 6700 JAGB stars in the composite sample.
The Carnegie Supernova Project (CSP) was a five-year observational survey conducted at Las Campanas Observatory that obtained, among other things, high-quality light curves of ~100 low-redshift Type ...Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). Presented here is the second data release of nearby SN Ia photometry consisting of 50 objects, with a subset of 45 having near-infrared follow-up observations. Thirty-three objects have optical pre-maximum coverage with a subset of 15 beginning at least five days before maximum light. In the near-infrared, 27 objects have coverage beginning before the epoch of B-band maximum, with a subset of 13 beginning at least five days before maximum. In addition, we present results of a photometric calibration program to measure the CSP optical (uBgVri) bandpasses with an accuracy of ~1%. Finally, we report the discovery of a second SN Ia, SN 2006ot, similar in its characteristics to the peculiar SN 2006bt.
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