Tip of the Red Giant Branch Distances. I. Optimization of a Maximum Likelihood Algorithm

Макаров, Д. И.; Макарова, Л. Н.; Rizzi, L.; Tully, R. Brent; Dolphin, Andrew E.; Sakai, Shoko; Shaya, E.

doi:10.1086/508925

Cited by 176 publications

(255 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

247

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Alternative parametric and non-parametric methods have been also applied to determine the TRGB magnitude in a number of stellar systems (see, e.g. Salaris & Cassisi 1998;Cioni et al 2000;Makarov et al 2006;Conn et al 2011).…”

Section: The Trgb As Distance Indicatormentioning

confidence: 99%

The brightness of the red giant branch tip

Serenelli

Weiß

Cassisi

et al. 2017

A&A

107

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Context. The brightness of the tip of the Red Giant Branch is a useful reference quantity for several fields of astrophysics. An accurate theoretical prediction is needed for such purposes. Aims. We intend to provide a solid theoretical prediction for it, valid for a reference set of standard physical assumptions, and mostly independent of numerical details. Methods. We examine the dependence on physical assumptions and numerical details, for a wide range of metallicities and masses, and based on two different stellar evolution codes. We adjust differences between the codes to treat the physics as identical as possible. After we have succeeded in reproducing the tip brightness between the codes, we present a reference set of models based on the most up to date physical inputs, but neglecting microscopic diffusion, and convert theoretical luminosities to observed infrared colours suitable for observations of resolved populations of stars and include analytic fits to facilitate their use. Results. We find that consistent use of updated nuclear reactions, including an appropriate treatment of the electron screening effects, and careful time-stepping on the upper red giant branch are the most important aspects to bring initially discrepant theoretical values into agreement. Small, but visible differences remain unexplained for very low metallicities and mass values at and above 1.2 M ⊙ , corresponding to ages younger than 4 Gyr. The colour transformations introduce larger uncertainties than the differences between the two stellar evolution codes. Conclusions. We demonstrate that careful stellar modeling allows an accurate prediction for the luminosity of the Red Giant Branch tip. Differences to empirically determined brightnesses may result either from insufficient colour transformations or from deficits in the constitutional physics. We present the best-tested theoretical reference values to date.

show abstract

Section: The Trgb As Distance Indicatormentioning

confidence: 99%

The brightness of the red giant branch tip

Serenelli

Weiß

Cassisi

et al. 2017

A&A

107

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Over the years TRGB measurement methods have become more sophisticated and reproducible (e.g., Lee et al 1993;Mendez et al 2002;Makarov et al 2006;Mager et al 2008). We employ a program called TRGBTOOL that uses a maximum likelihood method described by Makarov et al (2006). This program fits a power law with a step to a stellar luminosity function created from a portion of the CMD.…”

Section: Trgb Distancesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This fake photometry is used to account for how completeness, crowding, and color-spreading affect the reliability of the tip measurement. A large majority of the galaxies in the database with TRGB distances have well populated RGBs, but as populations of stars in the one magnitude below the TRGB drops below 50 or the TRGB lies within one magnitude of the photometric limit there is a degradation in the determination of the TRGB as discussed by Makarov et al (2006). Figure 4 shows the luminosity functions (blue) and fits (cyan and magenta) to the CMDs of NGC 4163 and IC4662 taken from a screenshot of TRGBTOOL's interface.…”

Section: Trgb Distancesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For comparison the interval between tick marks in the vertical scale of the CMDs corresponds to 10% shifts in distance. Details of our procedures are described by Makarov et al (2006) and Rizzi et al (2007). But, briefly the likelihood fit from TRG-BTOOL produces estimates of the TRGB magnitude and color as well as low and high 68% confidence limits.…”

Section: Trgb Distancesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The Extragalactic Distance Database: Color-Magnitude Diagrams

Jacobs¹,

Rizzi²,

Tully³

et al. 2009

The Astronomical Journal

Self Cite

254

208

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The color-magnitude diagrams/tip of the red giant branch (CMDs/TRGB) section of the Extragalactic Distance Database contains a compilation of observations of nearby galaxies from the Hubble Space Telescope. Approximately 250 (and increasing) galaxies in the Local Volume have CMDs and the stellar photometry tables used to produce them available through the Web. Various stellar populations that make up a galaxy are visible in the CMDs, but our primary purpose for collecting and analyzing these galaxy images is to measure the TRGB in each. We can estimate the distance to a galaxy by using stars at the TRGB as standard candles. In this paper, we describe the process of constructing the CMDs and make the results available to the public.

show abstract

“…These include distance moduli of galaxies from the Catalogue of the Neighbouring Galaxies (=CNG, Karachentsev et al 2005) and also from the literature with the best measurements prefered. Distances from the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) and the Cepheids are used from the CNG together with new TRGB distances (Karachentsev et al 2006;Makarov et al 2006;Mei et al 2007). For galaxy images in two or more photometric bands obtained with WFPC2 or ACS cameras at the Hubble Space Telescope, the TRGB method yields distances with an accuracy of about 7% (Rizzi et al 2007).…”

Section: The Datasetmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dark energy domination in the Virgocentric flow

Chernin¹,

Караченцев

Nasonova

et al. 2010

A&A

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Context. The standard ΛCDM cosmological model implies that all celestial bodies are embedded in a perfectly uniform dark energy background, represented by Einstein's cosmological constant, and experience its repulsive antigravity action. Aims. Can dark energy have strong dynamical effects on small cosmic scales as well as globally? Continuing our efforts to clarify this question, we now focus on the Virgo Cluster and the flow of expansion around it. Methods. We interpret the Hubble diagram from a new database of velocities and distances of galaxies in the cluster and its environment, using a nonlinear analytical model, which incorporates the antigravity force in terms of Newtonian mechanics. The key parameter is the zero-gravity radius, the distance at which gravity and antigravity are in balance. Results. 1. The interplay between the gravity of the cluster and the antigravity of the dark energy background determines the kinematical structure of the system and controls its evolution. 2. The gravity dominates the quasi-stationary bound cluster, while the antigravity controls the Virgocentric flow, bringing order and regularity to the flow, which reaches linearity and the global Hubble rate at distances > ∼ 15 Mpc. 3. The cluster and the flow form a system similar to the Local Group and its outflow. In the velocity-distance diagram, the cluster-flow structure reproduces the group-flow structure with a scaling factor of about 10; the zero-gravity radius for the cluster system is also 10 times larger. Conclusions. The phase and dynamical similarity of the systems on the scales of 1−30 Mpc suggests that a two-component pattern may be universal for groups and clusters: a quasi-stationary bound central component and an expanding outflow around it, caused by the nonlinear gravity-antigravity interplay with the dark energy dominating in the flow component.

show abstract

Tip of the Red Giant Branch Distances. I. Optimization of a Maximum Likelihood Algorithm

Cited by 176 publications

References 27 publications

The brightness of the red giant branch tip

The brightness of the red giant branch tip

The Extragalactic Distance Database: Color-Magnitude Diagrams

Dark energy domination in the Virgocentric flow

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About