Characterization of the VVV Survey RR Lyrae Population across the Southern Galactic Plane

Abstract

Deep near-IR images from the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) Survey were used to search for RR Lyrae stars in the Southern Galactic plane. A sizable sample of 404 RR Lyrae of type ab stars was identified across a thin slice of the 4${}^{\mathrm{th}}$ Galactic quadrant ($295°<l<350°$, $-2.24°<b<-1.05°$). The sample's distance distribution exhibits a maximum density that occurs at the bulge tangent point, which implies that this primarily Oosterhoff type I population of RRab stars does not trace the bar delineated by their red clump counterparts. The bulge RR Lyrae population does not extend beyond $l\sim 340°$, and the sample's spatial distribution presents evidence of density enhancements and substructure that warrants further investigation. Indeed, the sample may be employed to evaluate Galactic evolution models, and is particularly lucrative since half of the discovered RR Lyrae are within reach of Gaia astrometric observations.

10 pages, 13 figures. AJ, in press

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• Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) Catalog of Periodic Variable Stars
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• The VVV Survey RR Lyrae Population in the Galactic Centre Region
• A Data-driven Study of RR Lyrae Near-IR Light Curves: Principal Component Analysis, Robust Fits, and Metallicity Estimates
• Mapping the Interstellar Reddening and Extinction towards Baade's Window Using Minimum Light Colors of ab-type RR Lyrae Stars. Revelations from the De-reddened Color-Magnitude Diagrams
• A Near-infrared RR Lyrae census along the southern Galactic plane: the Milky Way's stellar fossil brought to light
• The central spheroids of Milky Way mass-sized galaxies
• Kinematics of RR Lyrae stars in the Galactic bulge with OGLE-IV and Gaia DR2
• Establishing the Galactic Centre Distance Using VVV Bulge RR Lyrae Variables
• Confirmation and physical characterization of the new bulge globular cluster Patchick 99 from the VVV and Gaia surveys
• Large amplitude periodic outbursts and long period variables in the VVV VIRAC2-$\beta$ database
• Abundance analysis of APOGEE spectra for 58 metal-poor stars from the bulge spheroid
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• The VVV Infrared Variability Catalog (VIVA-I)
• An Automated tool to detect variable sources in the Vista Variables in the V\'ıa Láctea Survey. The VVV Variables (V${}^4$) catalog of tiles d001 and d002
• Time-Series Surveys and Pulsating Stars: The Near-Infrared Perspective
• Determining the Scale Length and Height of the Milky Way's Thick Disc Using RR~Lyrae
• The spectral Petersen diagram as a new tool to map pulsation modes in variable stars
• rrlfe: Software for Generating and Applying Metallicity Calibrations for RR Lyrae Variable Stars Across a Wide Range of Phases and Temperatures