Parallax Measurements of the Mira-Type Star UX Cygni with Phase-referencing VLBI

We have measured the annual parallax of the Mira-type variable star UX Cyg at = 0.54 c 0.06 mas from phase-referencing VLBI observations of its circumstellar water masers with the VLBA. The corresponding distance is 1.85(+(-(0(0(.(.(2(1(5(9) kpc. This is the first measurement of an annual parallax b...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2005-07, Vol.627 (1), p.L49-L52
Main Authors: Kurayama, Tomoharu, Sasao, Tetsuo, Kobayashi, Hideyuki
Format: Article
Language:English
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We have measured the annual parallax of the Mira-type variable star UX Cyg at = 0.54 c 0.06 mas from phase-referencing VLBI observations of its circumstellar water masers with the VLBA. The corresponding distance is 1.85(+(-(0(0(.(.(2(1(5(9) kpc. This is the first measurement of an annual parallax based on observations of water masers. It is important to calibrate the period-luminosity relation of Mira variables because it is an important distance indicator in astronomy. We discuss the distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud by comparing our results with the period-luminosity relation in the Large Magellanic Cloud. We obtained the three-dimensional position and velocity of UX Cyg in our Galaxy: (R, f, z) = (8.20 c 0.01 kpc, 12'.4(+(-(1(1('('(.(.(7(3), -0.30(+(-(0(0(.(.(0(0(3(4) kpc), (V(R, V(f, V(z) = (-81.6(+(-(1(1(4(5(.(.(0(3), 204.0(+(-(3(3(.(.(6(4, -12.1(+(-(1(1(0(0(.(.(2(3)) km s(-1). We also discuss the origin of UX Cyg.
ISSN:1538-4357
0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.1086/432051