Distance to AA Leo Using Ground-Based Photometry and the Period-Luminosity-Metallicity Relation

Volume 53 number 1 (2025)

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Julianna Marie Lewis

Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-2814; mlfa@wsu.edu

Michael L. Allen

Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-2814; mlfa@wsu.edu

Abstract

We determined the distance to AA Leo, an RR Lyrae variable star. This study used ground-based photometry and the Period-Luminosity-Metallicity relation (PLZ) to calculate the distance. The Fourier parameter method was used to determine the metallicity. The calculated weighted average period for AA Leo is P = 0.5986 days, and [Fe/H] = –1.49. We computed an error-weighted average for distances of 2200 ± 101 parsecs. Our distance measurements are in good agreement with Gaia’s. This and other studies show that in general the distances obtained using the PLZ method are in good agreement with the parallax method.