1998/09/30 by E. F. Guinan, E. L. Fitzpatrick, L. E. DeWarf +7 · 5 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Binary star #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Large Magellanic Cloud #Light curve #Metallicity #Photometry (optics) #Physics #Spectral line #Spectrograph #Stars #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/311760
6 pages, including 2 pages of figures. Newly available optical (B and V) photometry has revealed -- and allowed the elimination of -- a systematic error in the previously reported determination of E(B-V) for HV2274. The new result is E(B-V) = 0.12 mag (as compared to the value of 0.083 reported in the original submission) and produces a DECREASE in the distance modulus of HV2274 by 0.12 mag. ApJ Letters, in press
arxiv created 1998/10/21 · openalex publication_date 1998/12/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is crucial for the calibration of the cosmic distance scale. We derive a distance to the LMC based on an analysis of ground-based photometry and Hubble Space Telescope ( HST )-based spectroscopy and spectrophotometry of the LMC-eclipsing binary system HV 2274. Analysis of the optical light curve and the HST /Goddard High-Resolution Spectrograph, radial velocity curve provides the masses and radii of the binary components. Analysis of the HST /Faint Object Spectrograph, UV/optical spectrophotometry provides the temperatures of the component stars and the interstellar extinction of the system. When combined, these data yield a distance to the binary system. After correcting for the location of HV 2274 with respect to the center of the LMC, we find d LMC = 45.7 ± 1.6 kpc or ( V 0 - M v ) LMC = 18.30 ± 0.07 mag. This result, which is immune to the metallicity-induced zero-point uncertainties that have plagued other techniques, lends strong support to the "short" LMC distance scale as derived from a number of independent methods.