EDP Sciences Journals List
Advanced Search
Subscriber Authentication Point
Home All issues Volume 463/2 Article
Free access article

Issue A&A
Volume 463, Number 2, February IV 2007
Page(s) 559 - 565
Section Galactic structure, stellar clusters, and populations
DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20052721



A&A 463, 559-565 (2007)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20052721

K-band magnitude of the red clump as a distance indicator

V. Van Helshoecht and M. A. T. Groenewegen

Instituut voor Sterrenkunde, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
    e-mail: veerle@ster.kuleuven.be

(Received 18 January 2005 / Accepted 21 September 2006)

Abstract
We have investigated how the K-band magnitude of the red clump [MK(RC)] depends on age and metallicity, using 2MASS infrared data for a sample of 24 open clusters with known distances. We show that a constant value of $M_K(RC)=-1.57 \pm 0.05$ is a reasonable assumption to use in distance determinations for clusters with metallicity between -0.5 and +0.4 dex and age between 108.5 and 109.9 years.


Key words: open clusters and associations: general -- stars: horizontal-branch -- stars: distances



© ESO 2007


What is OpenURL?

The OpenURL standard is a protocol for transmission of metadata describing the resource that you wish to access. An OpenURL link contains article metadata and directs it to the OpenURL server of your choice. The OpenURL server can provide access to the resource and also offer complementary services (specific search engine, export of references...). The OpenURL link can be generated by different means.
  • If your librarian has set up your subscription with an OpenURL resolver, OpenURL links appear automatically on the abstract pages.
  • You can define your own OpenURL resolver with your EDPS Account. In this case your choice will be given priority over that of your library.
  • You can use an add-on for your browser (Firefox or I.E.) to display OpenURL links on a page (see http://www.openly.com/openurlref/). You should disable this module if you wish to use the OpenURL server that you or your library have defined.