J_max residuals between simulations with three coeval J- and H-band epochs and reference sample as a function of metrics (i), (ii), and (iii) (top, middle, and bottom panels, respectively). The weighted mean and uncertainty on the weighted mean in bins of two days are shown in blue for each of the panels. The residuals in J_max do not vary much as a function of metrics (ii) and (iii), which means that metric (i) is the most relevant for estimating J_max. The metrics are described in Sect. 4, while N is the total number of simulations. The global offsets in the middle and bottom panels are driven by those simulations with phases ≲ − 5 days and ≳30 days from the top panel.