A. K. Dambis

RR Lyrae variables: visual and infrared luminosities, intrinsic colours and kinematics

We use UCAC4 proper motions and WISE W1-band apparent magnitudes intensity-mean for almost 400 field RR Lyrae variables to determine the parameters of the velocity distribution of Galactic RR Lyrae population and constrain the zero points of the metallicity- relation and those of the period-metallicity- -band and period-metallicity- -band luminosity relations via statistical parallax. We find the mean velocities of the halo- and thick-disc RR Lyrae populations in the solar neighbourhood to be (U0(Halo), V0(Halo), W0(Halo)) = (-7 +/- 9, -214 +/- 10, -10 +/- 6) km/s and (U0(Disc), V0(Disc), W0(Disc)) =(-13 +/- 7, -37 +/- 6, -17 +/- 4) km/s, respectively, and the corresponding components of the velocity-dispersion ellipsoids, (sigma VR(Halo), sigma Vphi(Halo), sigma Vtheta(Halo)) = (153 +/- 9, 101 +/- 6, 96 +/- 5) km/s and (sigma VR(Disc), sigma Vphi(Disc), sigma Vtheta(Disc)) = (46 +/- 7, 37 +/- 5, 27 +/- 4) km/s, respectively. The fraction of thick-disc stars is estimated at 0.22 +/- 0.03. The corrected IR period-metallicity-luminosity relations are = -0.769 +0.088 [Fe/H]- 2.33 mathoprm log PF and = -0.825 + 0.088 [Fe/H] -2.33 mathoprm log PF, and the optical metallicity-luminosity relation, [Fe/H]- , is = +1.094 + 0.232 [Fe/H], with a standard error of +/- 0.089, implying an LMC distance modulus of 18.32 +/- 0.09, a solar Galactocentric distance of 7.73 +/- 0.36 kpc, and the M31 and M33 distance moduli of DM(M31) = 24.24 +/- 0.09 (D = 705 +/- 30 kpc) and DM(M33) = 24.36 +/- 0.09 (D = 745 +/- 31 kpc), respectively. Extragalactic distances calibrated with our RR Lyrae star luminosity scale imply a Hubble constant of ~80 km/s/Mpc. Our results suggest marginal prograde rotation for the population of halo RR Lyraes in the Milky Way.

Mid-infrared period–luminosity relations for globular cluster RR Lyrae

The period - metallicity - WISE W1- and W2-band luminosity relations are derived for RR Lyrae stars based on WISE epoch photometry for 360 and 275 stars in 15 and 9 Galactic globular clusters, respectively. Our final relations have the form =γW1 -(2.381±0.097)log PF + (0.096±0.021)[Fe/H] and =γW2 -(2.269±0.127)log PF + (0.108±0.021)[Fe/H], where [Fe/H] values are on the scale of Carretta et al. (2009). We obtained two appreciably discrepant estimates for the zero points γW1 and γW2 of both relations: one based on a statistical-parallax analysis – γW1=-0.829±0.093 and γW2=-0.776±0.093 and another, significantly brighter one, based on HST FGS trigonometric parallaxes – γW1,HST=-1.150±0.077and γW2,HST=1.105±0.077. The period-metallicity-luminosity relations in the two bands yield highly consistent distance moduli for the calibrator clusters and the distance moduli computed using the W1- and W2-band relations with the HST zero points agree well with those computed by Sollima et al. (2006) based on their derived period-metallicity-Kband luminosity relation whose zero point is tied to the HST trigonometric parallax of RR Lyrae itself (�DM0 = 0.04 and 0.06, respectively, with a scatter of only 0.06).

Galactic masers: Kinematics, spiral structure and the disk dynamic state

We applied the currently most comprehensive version of the statistical-parallax technique to derive the kinematical parameters of the maser sample with 136 sources. Our kinematic model comprises the overall rotation of the Galactic disk and the spiral density-wave effects, and the variation of radial velocity dispersion with Galactocentric distance. The best description of the observed velocity field is provided by the model with constant radial and vertical velocity dispersions, (σU0, σW0) ≈ (9.4 ± 0.9, 5.9 ± 0.8) kms−1. The resulting Galactic rotation curve proved to be flat over the Galactocentric distance interval from 3 to 15 kpc and we find the local circular rotation velocity to be V0 ≈ (235 − 238) ± 7 km s−1. We determine the parameters of the four-armed spiral pattern (pitch angle i ≈ −10. ◦ 4 ± 0.3◦ and the phase of the Sun χ0 ≈ 125◦ ± 10◦). The amplitudes of radial and tangential spiral perturbations are about fR ≈ −6.9 ± 1.4 km s−1, fΘ ≈ +2.8 ± 1.0 km s−1. The kinematic data yield a solar Galactocentric distance of R0 ≈ 8.24 ± 0.12 kpc. Based on rotation curve parameters and the asymmetric drift we infer the exponential disk scale HD ≈ 2.7 ± 0.2 kpc assuming marginal stability of the intermediate-age disk, and also estimate the minimum local surface disk density, Σ(R0) > 26 ± 3M⊙ pc−2.

Study of open clusters within 1.8 kpc and understanding the Galactic structure

Based on an almost complete sample of Galactic open star clusters within 1.8 kpc, we perform a comprehensive statistical analysis of various cluster parameters like spatial position, age, size, mass and extinction in order to understand the general properties of the open cluster system in the Galaxy and the Galactic structure. Based on the distribution of 1241 open clusters about the Galactic plane and in different age bins, we find the average Galactic scale height as Zh = 60+/-2 pc for the youngest cluster population having Age <700 Myr, however, it increases up to 64+/-2 pc when we also include older population of clusters. The solar offset is found to be 6.2+/-1.1 pc above the formal Galactic plane. We derive a local mass density of \rho_0 = 0.090+/-0.005 Msun/pc^3 and found a negligibly small amount of dark matter in the solar neighbourhood. The reddening in the direction of clusters suggests a strong correlation with their vertical distance from the Galactic plane having a respective slope of dE(B-V)/dz = 0.40+/-0.04 and 0.42+/-0.05 mag/kpc below and above the GP. We observe a linear mass-radius and mass-age relations in the open clusters and derive a slope of dR/d(logM) = 2.08+/-0.10 and d(logM)/d(logT) = -0.36+/-0.05,respectively.

Classical Cepheids and the spiral structure of the milky way

We use data on space distribution of the currently most complete sample of Cepheids with reliable distances (565 stars), located within ~5 kpc from the Sun, to study the spiral pattern of the Milky Way galaxy. We estimate the pitch angle as 9°−10°; the most accurate estimate, i = 9.5° ± 0.1°, was obtained assuming the existence of a global four-armed spiral pattern; the solar phase angle in the spiral pattern is χ⊙ = −121° ± 3°. Comparing positions of the spiral arms delineated by classical Cepheids and galactic masers, with the age difference of these objects in mind, we estimate the rotation angular speed of the spiral pattern to be ΩP = 25.2 ± 0.5 km s−1kpc−1.

BV I c photometry of RR Lyrae stars

We have obtained 26 372 CCD frames in the B, V, and Ic filters for 81 RR Lyrae stars in 2008–2010, using the 76-cm telescope of the South African Astronomical Observatory and the 40-cm telescope of the Cerro Armazones Observatory, North Catholic University (Chile) using an SBIG ST-10XME CCD camera. For 12 of these RR Lyrae stars, we also obtained 337 brightness measurements in the B and V bands in 2000–2001 using the 60-cm telescope of the High Altitude Mt. Maidanak Observatory (Republic of Uzbekistan). We present tables of observations, light curves, and improved light-curve elements for all these RR Lyrae stars. The Blazhko effect was detected for SU Hor.

Classical Cepheids in the Galactic outer ring R1R ′2

The kinematics and distribution of classical Cepheids within ∼3 kpc from the Sun suggest the existence of the outer ring R1R ′2 in the Galaxy. The optimum value of the solar position angle with respect to the major axis of the bar, θb, providing the best agreement between the distribution of Cepheids and model particles, is θb = 37° ±13°. The kinematical features obtained for Cepheids with negative galactocentric radial velocity VR are consistent with the solar location near the descending segment of the outer ring R2. The sharp rise of extinction toward of the Galactic center can be explained by the presence of the outer ring R1 near the Sun. (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Classical Cepheids: a New version of the Baade-Becker-Wesselink method

We propose a new version of the Baade-Becker-Wesselink technique, which allows one to independently determine the color excess and the intrinsic color of a radially pulsating star, in addition to its radius, luminosity, and distance. The method is a generalization of the Balona approach. It also allows the function F(CI0) = BC(CI0) + 10 × log(Teff (CI0)) for the class of pulsating stars considered to be calibrated. The reddenings of several classical Cepheids with very accurate light and radial-velocity curves and with bona fide membership in open clusters (SZ Tau, CF Cas,USgr, DL Cas,GY Sge) agree well with the reddening estimates of the host open clusters. The new technique can also be applied to other pulsating variables, e.g. RR Lyrae.

Globular Clusters: Absolute Proper Motions and Galactic Orbits

We cross-match objects from several different astronomical catalogs to determine the absolute proper motions of stars within the 30-arcmin radius fields of 115 Milky-Way globular clusters with the accuracy of 1–2 mas yr−1. The proper motions are based on positional data recovered from the USNO-B1, 2MASS, URAT1, ALLWISE, UCAC5, and Gaia DR1 surveys with up to ten positions spanning an epoch difference of up to about 65 years, and reduced to Gaia DR1 TGAS frame using UCAC5 as the reference catalog. Cluster members are photometrically identified by selecting horizontal- and red-giant branch stars on color–magnitude diagrams, and the mean absolute proper motions of the clusters with a typical formal error of about 0.4 mas yr−1 are computed by averaging the proper motions of selected members. The inferred absolute proper motions of clusters are combined with available radial-velocity data and heliocentric distance estimates to compute the cluster orbits in terms of the Galactic potential models based on Miyamoto and Nagai disk, Hernquist spheroid, and modified isothermal dark-matter halo (axisymmetric model without a bar) and the same model + rotating Ferre’s bar (non-axisymmetric). Five distant clusters have higher-than-escape velocities, most likely due to large errors of computed transversal velocities, whereas the computed orbits of all other clusters remain bound to the Galaxy. Unlike previously published results, we find the bar to affect substantially the orbits of most of the clusters, even those at large Galactocentric distances, bringing appreciable chaotization, especially in the portions of the orbits close to the Galactic center, and stretching out the orbits of some of the thick-disk clusters.

Investigation of open clusters based on IPHAS and APASS survey data

We adapt the classical Q-method based on a reddening-free parameter constructed from three passband magnitudes to thwe filter set of IPHAS survey and combine it with the maximum-likelihood-based cluster parameter estimator by Naylor and Jeffries (2006) to determine the extinction, heliocentric distances, and ages of young open clusters using Halpha and ri data. Themethod is also adapted for the case of signific ant variations of extinction across the cluster rfield. Our technique is validated by comparing the colour excesses, disdtances, and ages determined in this study with the most bona fide values reported for the 18 well-studied young open clusters in the past, and a fairly good agreement is found between our extinction and distance estimnates and earlier published results. although our age estimates are not very consistent with those published by other authors. We also show that individual extinction values can be determined rather accurately for stars with (r-i)0>0.1. Our results open up a prospect fpr determining a uniform set of parameters for northern clusters based on homogeneous photometric data, and for searching for new, hitherto undiscovered open clusters.