Improving the cosmic distance ladder. Distance and structure of the Large Magellanic Cloud

Muraveva, Tatiana (2014) Improving the cosmic distance ladder. Distance and structure of the Large Magellanic Cloud, [Dissertation thesis], Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna. Dottorato di ricerca in Astronomia, 27 Ciclo. DOI 10.6092/unibo/amsdottorato/6733.
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Abstract

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is widely considered as the first step of the cosmological distance ladder, since it contains many different distance indicators. An accurate determination of the distance to the LMC allows one to calibrate these distance indicators that are then used to measure the distance to far objects. The main goal of this thesis is to study the distance and structure of the LMC, as traced by different distance indicators. For these purposes three types of distance indicators were chosen: Classical Cepheids,``hot'' eclipsing binaries and RR Lyrae stars. These objects belong to different stellar populations tracing, in turn, different sub-structures of the LMC. The RR Lyrae stars (age >10 Gyr) are distributed smoothly and likely trace the halo of the LMC. Classical Cepheids are young objects (age 50-200 Myr), mainly located in the bar and spiral arm of the galaxy, while ``hot'' eclipsing binaries mainly trace the star forming regions of the LMC. Furthermore, we have chosen these distance indicators for our study, since the calibration of their zero-points is based on fundamental geometric methods. The ESA cornerstone mission Gaia, launched on 19 December 2013, will measure trigonometric parallaxes for one billion stars with an accuracy of 20 micro-arcsec at V=15 mag, and 200 micro-arcsec at V=20 mag, thus will allow us to calibrate the zero-points of Classical Cepheids, eclipsing binaries and RR Lyrae stars with an unprecedented precision.

Abstract
Tipologia del documento
Tesi di dottorato
Autore
Muraveva, Tatiana
Supervisore
Co-supervisore
Dottorato di ricerca
Scuola di dottorato
Scienze matematiche, fisiche ed astronomiche
Ciclo
27
Coordinatore
Settore disciplinare
Settore concorsuale
Parole chiave
variable stars - Large Magellanic Cloud- distance scale - data analysis - astrometry
URN:NBN
DOI
10.6092/unibo/amsdottorato/6733
Data di discussione
15 Dicembre 2014
URI

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