Browsing by Author "Alonso-García, Javier"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Characterization of the VVV Survey RR Lyrae Population across the Southern Galactic Plane
    (2017) Minniti, D.; Dekany, Istvan; Majaess, Daniel; Palma, Tali; Pullen, Joyce; Rejkuba, Marina; Alonso-García, Javier; Catelan, Márcio; Hempel, Maren; Zoccali, Manuela; Contreras Ramos, Rodrigo Andrés; Gonzalez, Oscar A.; Irwin, Mike; Lucas, Philip W.; Saito, Roberto K.; Tissera, Patricia; Valenti, Elena
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    Helium enhancement among horizontal-branch stars and the near-UV color-magnitude diagrams
    (2015) Valcarce, Aldo A. R.; Catelan, Márcio; Alonso-García, Javier; Contreras Ramos, Rodrigo; Alves, Sanzia
    The distribution of horizontal branch stars in globular cluster color-magnitude diagrams is a sensitive probe of their original helium abundances. In this sense, they have been extensively used recently as indicators of possible variations in the helium content Y among the different populations of stars within individual globular clusters. However, recent analyses based on visual and near-ultraviolet color-magnitude diagrams have provided conflicting results. In order to clarify the situation, in this presentation we discuss the optimum ranges of applicability of this “HB Y test” in different filter systems, in terms of the temperature range covered by the horizontal branch stars. In particular, we discuss the case of M3 (NGC 5272), based on multi-band photometry (HST, Strömgren, Johnson), thus setting new and tight constraints on the internal range in Y within this cluster. We also provide an application of this "HB Y test" to other selected clusters....
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    Pulsating stars in ω Centauri. Near-IR properties and period-luminosity relations
    (2017) Navarrete, Camila; Catelan, Marcio; Contreras Ramos, Rodrigo; Alonso-García, Javier; Gran, Felipe; Dékány, István; Minniti, Dante
    ω Centauri (NGC 5139) contains many variable stars of different types, including the pulsating type II Cepheids, RR Lyrae and SX Phoenicis stars. We carried out a deep, wide-field, near-infrared (IR) variability survey of ω Cen, using the VISTA telescope. We assembled an unprecedented homogeneous and complete J and KS near-IR catalog of variable stars in the field of ω Cen. In this paper we compare optical and near-IR light curves of RR Lyrae stars, emphasizing the main differences. Moreover, we discuss the ability of near-IR observations to detect SX Phoenicis stars given the fact that the amplitudes are much smaller in these bands compared to the optical. Finally, we consider the case in which all the pulsating stars in the three different variability types follow a single period-luminosity relation in the near-IR bands....
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    Variable stars in the VVV globular clusters
    (2017) Alonso-García, Javier; Catelan, Marcio; Ramos, Rodrigo Contreras; Dékány, István; Minniti, Dante
    The VVV survey observed some of the most crowded and most obscured regions in the inner MilkyWay during the last years. A significant sample of the less known globular clusters in our galaxy lie there. Combining the high-resolution, wide-field, nearinfrared capabilities of the survey camera, the use of 5 different filters, and multi-epoch observations, we are able to overcome many of the previous challenges that prevented a proper study of these objects. Particularly, the identification of the RR Lyrae stars in these globular clusters is proving to be a fundamental tool to establish accurately their distances and reddenings, and to infer information about the Oosterhoff dichotomy that Galactic globular clusters seem to follow.
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    Variable stars in the VVV globular clusters. II. NGC 6441, NGC 6569, NGC 6626 (M 28), NGC 6656 (M 22), 2MASS-GC 02, and Terzan 10
    (2021) Alonso-García, Javier; Smith, Leigh C.; Catelan, Márcio; Minniti, Dante; Navarrete, Camila; Borissova, Jura; Carballo-Bello, Julio A.; Contreras Ramos, Rodrigo; Fernández-Trincado, José G.; Ferreira Lopes, Carlos E.; Gran, Felipe; Garro, Elisa R.; Geisler, Doug; Guo, Zhen; Hempel, Maren; Kerins, Eamonn; Lucas, Philip W.; Palma, Tali; Peña Ramírez, Karla; Ramírez Alegría, Sebastián; Saito, Roberto K.
    Context. The Galactic globular clusters (GGCs) located in the inner regions of the Milky Way suffer from high extinction that makes their observation challenging. High densities of field stars in their surroundings complicate their study even more. The VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) survey provides a way to explore these GGCs in the near-infrared where extinction effects are highly diminished. Aims: We conduct a search for variable stars in several inner GGCs, taking advantage of the unique multi-epoch, wide-field, near-infrared photometry provided by the VVV survey. We are especially interested in detecting classical pulsators that will help us constrain the physical parameters of these GGCs. In this paper, the second of a series, we focus on NGC 6656 (M 22), NGC 6626 (M 28), NGC 6569, and NGC 6441; these four massive GGCs have known variable sources, but quite different metallicities. We also revisit 2MASS-GC 02 and Terzan 10, the two GGCs studied in the first paper of this series. Methods: We present an improved method and a new parameter that efficiently identify variable candidates in the GGCs. We also use the proper motions of those detected variable candidates and their positions in the sky and in the color-magnitude diagrams to assign membership to the GGCs. Results: We identify and parametrize in the near-infrared numerous variable sources in the studied GGCs, cataloging tens of previously undetected variable stars. We recover many known classical pulsators in these clusters, including the vast majority of their fundamental mode RR Lyrae. We use these pulsators to obtain distances and extinctions toward these objects. Recalibrated period-luminosity-metallicity relations for the RR Lyrae bring the distances to these GGCs to a closer agreement with those reported by Gaia, except for NGC 6441, which is an uncommon Oosterhoff III GGC. Recovered proper motions for these GGCs also agree with those reported by Gaia, except for 2MASS-GC 02, the most reddened GGC in our sample, where the VVV near-infrared measurements provide a more accurate determination of its proper motions. Lightcurves and full Tables 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/651/A47...