1997/08/05 by The MACHO Collaboration, C. Alcock, R. A. Allsman +24 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/300317
35 pages, 20 PostScript figures. Submitted to the Astronomical Journal
arxiv created 1997/08/05 · openalex publication_date 1998/05/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
We report the discovery of RV Tauri stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). In light- and color-curve behavior, the RV Tauri stars appear to be a direct extension of the type II Cepheids to longer periods. A single period-luminosity-color relationship is seen to describe both the type II Cepheids and the RV Tauri stars in the LMC. We derive the relation V 0 = 17.89(±0.20)-2.95(±0.12) log P + 5.49(±0.35)⟨( V - R ) 0 ⟩, which is valid for type II Cepheids and RV Tauri stars in the period range 0.9 < log P < 1.75. Assuming a distance modulus to the LMC of 18.5, the relation in terms of the absolute luminosities becomes M V = -0.61(±0.20)-2.95(±0.12) log P + 5.49(±0.35)⟨( V - R ) 0 ⟩.