Kinematics of classical Cepheids in the Nuclear Stellar Disk

Abstract

Classical Cepheids are useful tracers of the Galactic young stellar population because their distances and ages can be determined from their period-luminosity and period-age relations. In addition, the radial velocities and chemical abundance of the Cepheids can be derived from spectroscopic observations, providing further insights into the structure and evolution of the Galaxy. Here, we report the radial velocities of classical Cepheids near the Galactic Center, three of which were reported in 2011, the other reported for the first time. The velocities of these Cepheids suggest that the stars orbit within the Nuclear Stellar Disk, a group of stars and interstellar matter occupying a region of 200 pc around the Center, although the three-dimensional velocities cannot be determined until the proper motions are known. According to our simulation, these four Cepheids formed within the Nuclear Stellar Disk like younger stars and stellar clusters therein.

Accepted for publication in ApJ; 8 pages, 7 figures, 6 tables

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Cited by in corpus (5)

• Clustering of Local Group distances: publication bias or correlated measurements? IV. The Galactic Center
• A lack of classical Cepheids in the inner part of the Galactic disk
• Using classical Cepheids to study the far side of the Milky Way disk: I. Spectroscopic classification and the metallicity gradient
• Mira variables in the Milky Way's nuclear stellar disc: discovery and classification
• Near-Infrared Variability Study of the Central 2.3 arcmin x 2.3 arcmin of the Galactic Centre I. Catalog of Variable Sources