Distances for the RR Lyrae Stars UU Ceti, UW Gruis, and W Tucanae

Volume 49 number 2 (2021)

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Ross Parker
Department of Physical Science and Engineering, Harper College, 1200 W Algonquin Road, Palatine, IL 60067; r_parker19@mail.harpercollege.edu
Liam Parker
Department of Physical Science and Engineering, Harper College, 1200 W Algonquin Road, Palatine, IL 60067; l_parker16@mail.harpercollege.edu
Hayden Parker
Department of Physical Science and Engineering, Harper College, 1200 W Algonquin Road, Palatine, IL 60067; h_parker8@mail.harpercollege.edu
Faraz Uddin
Department of Physical Science and Engineering, Harper College, 1200 W Algonquin Road, Palatine, IL 60067; f_uddin3@mail.harpercollege.edu
Timothy Banks
Department of Physical Science and Engineering, Harper College, 1200 W Algonquin Road, Palatine, IL 60067, and Data Science, Nielsen, 200 W Jackson, Chicago, IL 60606; tim.banks@nielsen.com

Abstract

B, V, i, and z bandpass observations were collected in late 2020 for three RRab type stars: UU Ceti, UW Gruis, and W Tucanae. The period-luminosity (PL) relationships of Catalen, Pritzl, and Smith (2004, ApJSupp, 154) and Caceres and Catelan (2008, ApJSuppl, 179) were applied to derive distances. These were found to be in reasonable agreement with the Gaia Early DR3 distances, lending confidence to use of the PL relationships. Fourier decompositions were applied to data from the TESS space telescope to derive, using stepwise linear regression, an empirical relationship between terms of the decomposition and the pulsation period with metallicity [Fe/H]. TESS data were available for UU Cet and W Tuc out of the three systems studied. The derived equation gave metallicities in line with the literature for both stars, lending confidence to their usage in the PL-derived distances.