Metallicity estimation of MW, SMC and LMC classical Cepheids from the shape of the $V$- and $I$-band light curves

Abstract

Estimating metallicity of classical Cepheids is of prime importance for studying metallicity effect on stellar evolution, chemical evolution of galaxies, and ultimately its impact on period-luminosity relation used in the extragalactic distance scale. We aim at establishing new empirical relations for estimating the iron content of classical Cepheids for short and long-periods based on Fourier parameters from the $V$-band light curves. We calibrate new interrelations of Fourier parameters to convert $V$-band empirical relations into the $I$-band. Then we apply these relation in $V$ and $I$-bands to Cepheids from Milky Way (MW), Small and Large Magellanic Clouds (SMC and LMC) available in the literature. Last, we map the metallicity distribution in these galaxies for investigating potential application in galactic archeology. These empirical relations in $V$ and $I$ bands are able to derive the mean metallicity of a sample of MW, SMC and LMC Cepheids in agreement with literature values within 1$\sigma$. We also show that these relations are precise enough to reconstruct the radial metallicity gradients within the MW from OGLE data. The empirical relations in the $V$ and $I$ bands calibrated in this paper for short and long-period Cepheids provide a new useful tool to estimate the metallicity of Cepheids which are not accessible by spectroscopy. The calibration can be improved with further high-resolution spectroscopic observations of metal-poor Cepheids and homogeneous photometries in $V$ and $I$ bands.

Accepted in A&A, 20 pages, 20 figures

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