Galactic bulge population II Cepheids in the VVV survey: period-luminosity relations and a distance to the Galactic centre^⋆

¹ European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Straße 2, 85748 Garching, Germany
e-mail: anupam.bhardwajj@gmail.com; abhardwaj@eso.org
² Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Delhi, Delhi 110007, India
³ Excellence Cluster Universe, Boltzmann-Str. 2, 85748 Garching bei München, Germany
⁴ Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Andrés Bello, Av. Fernandez Concha 700, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile
⁵ Instituto Milenio de Astrofisica, 1515 Las Condes, Santiago, Chile
⁶ Vatican Observatory, 00120 Vatican City State, Italy
⁷ Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Instituto de Astrofísica, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Santiago, Chile
⁸ UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
⁹ State University of New York, Oswego, NY 13126, USA

Received: 21 March 2017
Accepted: 12 July 2017

Abstract

Context. Multiple stellar populations of different ages and metallicities reside in the Galactic bulge that trace its structure and provide clues to its formation and evolution.

Aims. We present the near-infrared observations of population II Cepheids in the Galactic bulge from VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) survey. The JHK_s photometry together with optical data from Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) survey provide an independent estimate of the distance to the Galactic centre. The old, metal-poor and low-mass population II Cepheids are also investigated as useful tracers for the structure of the Galactic bulge.

Methods. We identify 340 population II Cepheids in the VVV survey Galactic bulge catalogue based on their match with the OGLE-III Catalogue. The single-epoch JH and multi-epoch K_s observations complement the accurate periods and optical (VI) mean-magnitudes from OGLE. The sample consisting of BL Herculis and W Virginis subtypes is used to derive period-luminosity relations after correcting mean-magnitudes for the extinction. Our K_s-band period-luminosity relation, K_s = −2.189(0.056) [log (P)−1] + 11.187(0.032), is consistent with published work for BL Herculis and W Virginis variables in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Results. We present a combined OGLE-III and VVV catalogue with periods, classification, mean magnitudes, and extinction for 264 Galactic bulge population II Cepheids that have good-quality K_s-band light curves. The absolute magnitudes for population II Cepheids and RR Lyraes calibrated using Gaia and Hubble Space Telescope parallaxes, together with calibrated magnitudes for Large Magellanic Cloud population II Cepheids, are used to obtain a distance to the Galactic centre, R₀ = 8.34 ± 0.03(stat.) ± 0.41(syst.), which changes by ^{+ 0.05}_-0.25 with different extinction laws. While noting the limitation of small number statistics, we find that the present sample of population II Cepheids in the Galactic bulge shows a nearly spheroidal spatial distribution, similar to metal-poor RR Lyrae variables. We do not find evidence of the inclined bar as traced by the metal-rich red-clump stars.

Conclusions. Population II Cepheid and RR Lyrae variables follow similar period-luminosity relations and trace the same metal-poor old population in the Galactic bulge. The number density for population II Cepheids is more limited as compared to abundant RR Lyraes but they are bright and exhibit a wide range in period that provides a robust period-luminosity relation for an accurate estimate of the distance to the Galactic centre.