The VMC Survey -- XLII. Near-infrared period-luminosity relations for RR Lyrae stars and the structure of the Large Magellanic Cloud

Abstract

We present results from an analysis of $\sim$ 29,000 RR Lyrae stars located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). For these objects, near-infrared time-series photometry from the VISTA survey of the Magellanic Clouds system (VMC) and optical data from the OGLE (Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment) IV survey and the Gaia Data Release 2 catalogue of confirmed RR Lyrae stars were exploited. Using VMC and OGLE IV magnitudes we derived period-luminosity (PL), period-luminosity-metallicity (PLZ), period-Wesenheit (PW) and period-Wesenheit-metallicity (PWZ) relations in all available bands. More that ~7,000 RR Lyrae were discarded from the analysis because they appear to be overluminous with respect to the PL relations. The $P{L}_{K_{\mathrm{s}}}$ relation was used to derive individual distance to $\sim 22,000$ RR Lyrae stars, and study the three-dimensional structure of the LMC. The distribution of the LMC RR Lyrae stars is ellipsoidal with the three axis $S_1$=6.5 kpc, $S_2$=4.6 kpc and $S_3$=3.7 kpc, inclination i=$22\pm 4^{\circ }$ relative to the plane of the sky and position angle of the line of nodes $\theta =167\pm 7^{\circ }$ (measured from north to east). The north-eastern part of the ellipsoid is closer to us and no particular associated substructures are detected as well as any metallicity gradient.

accepted for publication in MNRAS

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• Kinematic analysis of the Large Magellanic Cloud using Gaia DR3
• Variable star classification across the Galactic bulge and disc with the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea survey
• On Zero Point Calibration of the Red Giant Branch Tip in the Magellanic Clouds
• The extinction law in the inner $3\times 3$ deg${}^2$ of the Milky Way and the red clump absolute magnitude in the inner bar-bulge
• An absolute calibration of the near-infrared Period-Luminosity Relations of Type II Cepheids in the Milky Way and in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• Precise Empirical Determination of Metallicity Dependence of Near-infrared Period-Luminosity Relations for RR Lyrae Variables
• Vertical structure and kinematics of the LMC disc from SDSS/Gaia
• New Near-Infrared Period-Luminosity-Metallicity Relations for Galactic RR Lyrae Stars Based on Gaia EDR3 Parallaxes
• The Galactic Bulge exploration IV.: RR~Lyrae stars as traces of the Galactic bar -- 3D and 5D analysis, extinction variation
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• Variable stars in the VVV globular clusters. II. NGC6441, NGC6569, NGC6626 (M28), NGC6656 (M22), 2MASS-GC02, and Terzan10
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• Peeping into recent star formation history of the Magellanic Clouds
• The VMC survey -- XLVI. Stellar proper motions in the centre of the Large Magellanic Cloud
• Tracing Milky Way substructure with an RR Lyrae hierarchical clustering forest