Register      Login
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia Society
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Absolute-Magnitude Calibration for Red Giants Based on Colour–Magnitude Diagrams of Galactic Clusters: I. Calibration in V and B – V

S. Karaali A B , S. Bilir A and E. Yaz Gökçe A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Istanbul University, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Astronomy and Space Sciences, 34119, Istanbul, Turkey

B Corresponding author. Email: karsa@istanbul.edu.tr

Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia 29(4) 509-522 https://doi.org/10.1071/AS12003
Submitted: 9 January 2012  Accepted: 17 April 2012   Published: 31 May 2012

Abstract

We present an absolute-magnitude calibration for red giants using the colour–magnitude diagrams of six Galactic clusters with different metallicities: M92, M13, M5, 47 Tuc, M67 and NGC 6791. The combination of the absolute magnitude offset from the fiducial of giant sequence of the cluster M5 with the corresponding metallicity offset provides a calibration estimation for the absolute magnitude of red giants for a given (B – V)0 colour. The calibration is defined in the colour interval 0.75 ≤ (B – V)0 ≤ 1.50 mag and it covers the metallicity interval –2.15 < [Fe/H] ≤ +0.37 dex. 91% of the absolute magnitude residuals obtained by the application of the procedure to another set of Galactic clusters lie in the interval –0.40 < ΔM ≤ +0.40 mag. The mean and the standard deviation of the residuals are 0.05 and 0.19 mag, respectively. We fitted the absolute magnitude also to metallicity and age for a limited sub-sample of (B – V)0 colour, just to test the effect of age in absolute-magnitude calibration. Comparison of the mean and the standard deviation of the residuals evaluated by this procedure with the corresponding ones provided by the procedure where the absolute magnitude fitted to a third degree polynomial of metallicity show that the age parameter may be omitted in absolute magnitude estimation of red giants. The derived relations are applicable to stars older than 4 Gyr, the age of the youngest calibrating cluster.

Keywords: stars: distances — globular clusters: individual (M92, M13, M5, 47 Tuc) — open clusters: individual (M67, NGC 6791)


References

Alonso, M. V., Salaris, M., Martinez-Roger, C., Straniero, O. and Arribas, S., 1997, A&A, 323, 374
| 1:CAS:528:DyaK2sXkvFKgurw%3D&md5=92fd2936231bd1f70857029d319150a9CAS |

Breddels, M. A. et al., 2010, A&A, 511, 90

Buonanno, R., Corsi, C. E., Pulone, L., Pecci, F. F., Richer, H. B. and Fahlman, G. C., 1995, AJ, 109, 663

Chen, B. et al., 2001, ApJ, 553, 184
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Gratton, R. G., Fusi Pecci, F., Carretta, E., Clementini, G., Corsi, C. E. and Lattanzi, M., 1997, ApJ, 491, 749
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DyaK1cXktFamtg%3D%3D&md5=7f8b71f6441f13e19b3f688fb2b5ddbbCAS |

Harris, W. E., 1996, AJ, 112, 1487

Harris, W. E., 2010, arXiv:astro-ph/1012.3224

Hesser, J. E., Harris, W. E., Vandenberg, D. A., Allwright, J. W. B., Shott, P. and Stetson, P. B., 1987, PASP, 99, 739
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DyaL2sXmtVyisb0%3D&md5=547550fc4b4d3defb3eef9de535daeadCAS |

Hodder, P. J. C., Nemec, J. M., Richer, H. B. and Fahlman, G. G., 1992, AJ, 103, 460

Hog, E. and Flynn, C., 1998, MNRAS, 294, 28
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DyaK1cXhslCjtbY%3D&md5=9dade1e89d7be5465f9b769ff8c248ecCAS |

Karaali, S., Karataş, Y., Bilir, S., Ak, S. G. and Hamzaoğlu, E., 2003, PASA, 20, 270
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Laird, J. B., Carney, B. W. and Latham, D. W., 1988, AJ, 96, 1908
| 1:CAS:528:DyaL1MXksl2lsA%3D%3D&md5=182524489caaea4ae9a6f055850f31dbCAS |

Ljunggren, B. and Oja, T., 1966, IAUS, 24, 317

Marigo, P., Girardi, L., Bressan, A., Groenewegen, M. A. T., Silva, L. and Granato, G. L., 2008, A&A, 482, 883
| 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD1cXosFGrt7Y%3D&md5=15b6f7fab544d4f3e24923cac965d36eCAS |

McClure, R. D., 1976, AJ, 81, 182

Meibom, S. et al., 2009, AJ, 137, 5086
| 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD1MXnsVCrtrs%3D&md5=6789b939eeef58aeac532c94ab7fd622CAS |

Nissen, P. E. and Schuster, W. J., 1991, A&A, 251, 457

Percival, S. M., Salaris, M., van Wyk, F. and Kilkenny, D., 2002, ApJ, 573, 174
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Perryman, M. A. C. et al., 1997, A&A, 323, L49

Phleps, S., Meisenheimer, K., Fuchs, B. and Wolf, C., 2000, A&A, 356, 108
| 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3cXjsFaltLo%3D&md5=4d0c4d19ab6cc963f54c4cd19b3338fbCAS |

Rey, S.-C., Lee, Y.-W., Byun, Y.-I. & Chun, M.-S., 1998, AJ, 116, 1775

Salaris, M. and Weiss, A., 2002, A&A, 388, 492

Sandage, A., 1970, ApJ, 162, 841
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Sandage, A., Lubin, L. M. and VandenBerg, D. A., 2003, PASP, 115, 1187
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Sandquist, E. L., Bolte, M., Stetson, P. B. and Hesser, J. E., 1996, ApJ, 470, 910
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DyaK28XmvFKls7o%3D&md5=6a9406eb8f940c6d92cbad9f3fe548c8CAS |

Santos, J. F. C. and Piatti, A. E., 2004, A&A, 428, 79
| 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD2MXmsF2nsQ%3D%3D&md5=2afe8d2796bdc17bdb1c569e62cfd275CAS |

Sarajedini, A., 1993, AJ, 105, 2172

Siegel, M. H., Majewski, S. R., Reid, I. N. and Thompson, I. B., 2002, ApJ, 578, 151
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Steinmetz, M. et al., 2006, AJ, 132, 1645
| 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD28XhtFyhsbzN&md5=8c804760f8518bf74b368c76f6224b6aCAS |

Stetson, P. B. and Harris, W. E., 1988, AJ, 96, 909
| 1:CAS:528:DyaL1cXltlynsbo%3D&md5=856533662ec95a00e9b56c2816c7f39dCAS |

VandenBerg, D. A., Bergbusch, P. A. and Dowler, P. D., 2006, ApJS, 162, 375
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD28Xis1ars7o%3D&md5=019dd0efe6bfc58729793d75b7fc1ef1CAS |

Zinn, R. and West, M. J., 1984, ApJS, 55, 45
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DyaL2cXitFylsLs%3D&md5=0419d4a1855235a13c92da3a18e06a33CAS |

Zwitter, T. et al., 2010, A&A, 522A, 54