Abstract
The Magellanic Clouds, especially the Large Magellanic Cloud, are places where multiple distance indicators can be compared with each other in a straight-forward manner at considerable precision. We here review the distances derived from Cepheids, Red Variables, RR Lyraes, Red Clump Stars and Eclipsing Binaries, and show that the results from these distance indicators generally agree to within their errors, and the distance modulus to the Large Magellanic Cloud appears to be defined to ±3% with a mean value (m−M)0=18.48 mag, corresponding to 49.7 kpc. The utility of the Magellanic Clouds in constructing and testing the distance scale will remain as we move into the era of Gaia.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alves, D.R.: Astrophys. J. 539, 732 (2000)
Alves, D.R.: Highlights of Astronomy. In: Engvold, O. (ed.) XXVth General Assebly of the IAU, vol. 13, p. 1448. Astronomical Society of the Pacific, San Francisco (2005)
Andersen, J.: Astron. Astrophys. Rev. 3, 91 (1991)
Benedict, G.F., McArthur, B.E., Fredrick, L.W., et al.: Astron. J. 124, 1695 (2002)
Benedict, G.F., McArthur, B.E., Feast, M.W., et al.: Astron. J. 133, 1810 (2007)
Benedict, G.F., McArthur, B.E., Feast, M.W., et al.: Astron. J. 142, 187 (2011)
Besla, G., Kallivayalil, N., Hermquiat, L., et al.: Astrophys. J. 721, L97 (2010)
Bonanos, A.Z., Castro, N., Macri, L.M., Kudritzki, R.-P.: Astrophys. J. 729, L9 (2011)
Bono, G., Caputo, F., Castellani, V., et al.: Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 344, 1097 (2003)
Bono, G., Caputo, F., Fiorentino, G., Marconi, M., Musella, I.: Astrophys. J. 684, 102 (2008)
Borissova, J., Minniti, D., Rejkuba, M., et al.: Astron. Astrophys. 423, 97 (2004)
Borissova, J., Rejkuba, M., Minniti, D., Catelan, M., Ivanov, V.D.: Astron. Astrophys. 502, 505 (2009)
Caldwell, J.A.R., Coulson, I.M.: Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 218, 223 (1986)
Caputo, F.: this meeting (2011)
Cardelli, J.A., Clayton, G.G., Mathis, J.S.: Astron. J. 96, 695 (1989)
Carretta, E., Gratton, R.G., Clementini, G., Fusi Pecci, F.: Astrophys. J. 533, 215 (2000)
Catelan, M., Pritzl, B.J., Smith, H.A.: Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 154, 633 (2004)
Catelan, M., Cortes, C.: Astrophys. J. 676, L135 (2008)
Chaboyer, B.C., Benedict, G.F., McArthur, B.E., et al.: Bull. Am. Astron. Soc. 43, #242.25 (2011)
Clementini, G., Gratton, R.G., Bragaglia, A., et al.: Astron. J. 125, 1309 (2003)
Clementini, G.: In: van Loon, J.T., Oliveira, J.M. (eds.) IAU Symposium, vol. 256, p. 373. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2008)
Coppola, G., Dall’Ora, M., Ripepi, V., et al.: Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 416, 1056 (2011)
Dall’Ora, M., Storm, J., Bono, G., et al.: Astrophys. J. 610, 269 (2004)
Deb, S., Singh, H.P.: Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 402, 691 (2010)
di Benedetto, G.P.: Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 357, 174 (2005)
Di Criscienzo, M., Marconi, M., Caputo, F.: Astrophys. J. 612, 1092 (2004)
Feast, M.W.: Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 337, 1035 (2002)
Feast, M.W., Catchpole, R.F.: Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 286, L1 (1997)
Feast, M.W., Walker, A.R.: Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 25, 345 (1987)
Feast, M.W., Laney, C.D., Kinman, T.D., Van Leeuwen, F., Whitelock, P.A.: Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 386, 2115 (2008)
Fitzpatrick, E.F., Ribas, I., Guinan, E.F., et al.: Astrophys. J. 564, 26 (2002)
Fitzpatrick, E.F., Ribas, I., Guinan, E.F., Maloney, F.P., Claret, A.: Astrophys. J. 587, 685 (2003)
Fouqué, P., Arriagada, P., Storm, J., et al.: Astron. Astrophys. 476, 73 (2007)
Freedman, W.L., Madore, B.F.: Astrophys. J. 696, 1498 (2009)
Freedman, W.L., Madore, B.F.: Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 48, 673 (2010)
Freedman, W.L., Madore, B.F.: Astrophys. J. 734, 46 (2011)
Gieren, W., Storm, J., Barnes, T.G., et al.: Astrophys. J. 627, 224 (2005)
Gratton, R.G., Bragaglia, A., Clementini, G., et al.: Astron. Astrophys. 421, 937 (2004)
Grocholski, A., Sarajedini, A., Olsen, K.A.G., Tiede, G.P., Mancone, C.L.: Astron. J. 134, 680 (2007)
Groenwegen, M.: Astron. Astrophys. 488, 935 (2008)
Guinan, E.F., Fitzpatrick, E.L., Dewarf, L.E., et al.: Astrophys. J. 509, L21 (1998)
Hanson, R.P.: Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 186, 875 (1979)
Hilditch, R.W.: Astrophys. Space Sci. 304, 203 (2006)
Hilditch, R.W., Howarth, I.D., Harries, T.J.: Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 357, 304 (2005)
Hislop, L., et al.: Astrophys. J. 733, 79 (2011)
Ita, Y., Matsunaga, N.: Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 412, 2345 (2011)
Kapakos, E., Hatzidimitriou, D., Soszyński, I.: Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 415, 1366 (2011)
Koewer, J.F.: Astron. J. 138, 1 (2009)
Komatsu, E., Smith, K.M., Dunkley, J., et al.: Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 192, 18 (2011)
Kovács, G., Jursik, J.: Astrophys. J. 466, 47 (1996)
Kudritzki, R.-P., Urbaneja, M.A., Bresolin, F., et al.: Astrophys. J. 681, 269 (2008)
Lacey, C.: Astrophys. J. 213, 458 (1977)
Macri, L.M., Stanek, K.Z., Bersier, D., Greenhill, L.J., Reid, M.J.: Astrophys. J. 652, 1133 (2006)
Madore, B.F., Freedman, W.L.: Astrophys. J. 696, 1498 (2009)
Majaess, D., Turner, D., Gieren, W.: Astrophys. J. 741, L36 (2011)
Mould, J., Sakai, S.: Astrophys. J. 686, 75 (2008)
Mould, J., Sakai, S.: Astrophys. J. 694, 1331 (2009a)
Mould, J., Sakai, S.: Astrophys. J. 697, 996 (2009b)
Nemec, J.N., Walker, A.R., Jeon, Y.-B.: Astron. J. 138, 1310 (2009)
Nidever, D.L., Majewski, S.R., Butler Burton, W., Nigra, L.: Astrophys. J. 723, 1618 (2010)
Nikolaev, S., Drake, A.J., Keller, S.C., et al.: Astrophys. J. 601, 260 (2004)
Olsen, K.A.G., Zaritsky, D., Blum, R.D., Boyer, M.L., Gordon, K.D.: Astrophys. J. 737, 29 (2011)
Paczynski, B.: Extragalactic Distance Scale STScI Symp. (1996). arXiv:astro-ph/9608094
Percival, S., Salaris, M.: Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 343, 539 (2003)
Pejcha, O., Stanek, K.Z.: Astrophys. J. 704, 1730 (2009)
Pietryński, G., Gieren, W., Udalski, A.: Astron. J. 125, 2494 (2003)
Pietryński, G., Thompson, I.B., Graczyk, D., et al.: Astrophys. J. 697, 862 (2009)
Pietryński, G., Thompson, I., Graczyk, D., Gieren, W., Minniti, D.: ASP Conf. Ser. 435, 13 (2010)
Ribas, I., Fitzpatrick, E.L., Maloney, F.P., Guinan, E.F., Udalski, A.: Astrophys. J. 574, 771 (2002)
Riess, A.G., et al.: Astrophys. J. 730, 119 (2011)
Romaniello, M., Primas, F., Mottini, M., et al.: AIP Conf. Proc. 1170, 99 (2009)
Saha, A., Olszewski, E.W., Brondel, B., et al.: Astron. J. 140, 1719 (2010)
Sakai, S., Ferrarese, L., Kennicut, R.C., Saha, A.: Astrophys. J. 608, 42 (2004)
Salaris, M., Percival, S., Girardi, L.: Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 345, 1030 (2003)
Schaefer, B.E.: Astron. J. 1354, 112 (2008)
Scowcroft, V., Bersier, D., Mould, J.R., Wood, P.R.: Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 396, 1287 (2009)
Soszyński, I., Udalski, A., Szymański, M., et al.: Acta Astron. 52, 369 (2002)
Soszyński, I., Udalski, A., Szymański, M., et al.: Acta Astron. 59, 1 (2003)
Soszyński, I., Udalski, A., Kubiak, M., et al.: Acta Astron. 54, 129 (2004)
Soszyński, I., Udalski, A., Szymański, M., et al.: Astron. Astrophys. 59, 239 (2009)
Storm, J., Gieren, W., Fouqué, P.: Astron. Astrophys. 534, 94 (2011a)
Storm, J., Gieren, W., Fouqué, P.: Astron. Astrophys. 534, 95 (2011b)
Szewczyk, O., Pietrzyński, G., Gieren, W., et al.: Astron. J. 136, 272 (2008)
Tabur, V., Bedding, T.R., Kiss, L.L., et al.: Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 409, 777 (2010)
Tammann, G.A., Sandage, A., Reindl, B.: Astrophys. J. 679, 52 (2008)
Torres, G., Andersen, J., Giménez, A.: Astron. Astrophys. Rev. 18, 67 (2010)
Turner, D.G.: Astrophys. Space Sci. 326, 219 (2010)
Turner, D.G., Burke, J.F.: Astron. J. 124, 2931 (2002)
van Leeuwen, F., Feast, M.W., Whitelock, P.A., Laney, C.D.: Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 379, 723 (2007)
Walker, A.R.: In: Alloin, D., Gieren, W. (eds.) Stellar Candles for the Extragalactic Distance Scale. Lecture Notes in Physics, vol. 635, p. 265 (2003)
Whitelock, P.A., Feast, M.W.: Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 319, 759 (2000)
Whitelock, P.A., Feast, M.W., van Leeuwen, F.: Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 386, 313 (2008)
Windmark, F., Lindgren, L., Hobbs, D.: Astron. Astrophys. 530, 76 (2011)
Wood, P.R.: Publ. Astron. Soc. Aust. 17, 18 (2000)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Walker, A.R. The Large Magellanic Cloud and the distance scale. Astrophys Space Sci 341, 43–49 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-011-0961-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-011-0961-x