High-Cadence Stellar Variability Studies of Galactic RR Lyrae Stars with DECam
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2023
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Abstract
As part of the DECam Alliance for Transients (DECAT), a consortium of time- domain DECam programs, the DECam Deep Drilling Program (DDP) is being conducted at the Blanco 4m telescope, located at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Chile. The DDP includes the DECaPS East field, situated in the Galactic bulge at coordinates (RA, DEC)(J2000) = (18:03:34, -29:32:02). We performed two nights of high-cadence, multi- band (griz) observations utilizing DECam.
We obtained high-quality griz light curves for 1033 previously identified RR Lyrae stars. Subsequently, a robust Fourier decomposition analysis was con- ducted, generating well-defined, multi-band light curve templates for 143 RRab and 146 RRc stars. This process aimed to update and enhance the existing RR Lyrae star templates catalog. Therefore, our work is expected to broadly apply to the data acquired from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time.
Furthermore, we compared and analyzed the dependence of Fourier coef- ficients and other derived light curve parameters on the effective wavelength, providing valuable in-sights into the behavior and structure of RR Lyrae stars. Another significant contribution of this study was the construction of the Period- φ31-[Fe/H] relations, total-to-selective extinction ratios, and distances for each star in both the DECam and Sloan photometric systems.
This information is crucial for investigating RR Lyrae stars and their role as tracers of Galactic structures. By combining these results, we better un- derstand the characteristics and morphology of their light curves, the chemical composition through studying their metallicities, and the spatial distribution of RR Lyrae stars within the Galactic bulge. This knowledge contributes to the overall effort of classifying and detecting variable stars.
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Tesis (Master’s degree in Astrophysics)--Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 2023