The HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale XIII. The Metallicity Dependence of the Cepheid Distance Scale

Abstract

Uncertainty in the metal abundance dependence of the Cepheid variable period- luminosity (PL) relation remains one of the outstanding sources of systematic error in the extragalactic distance scale and Hubble constant. To test for such a metallicity dependence, we have used the WFPC2 camera on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to observe Cepheids in two fields in the nearby spiral galaxy M101, which span a range in oxygen abundance of 0.7+-0.15 dex. A differential analysis of the PL relations in V and I in the two fields yields a marginally significant change in the inferred distance modulus on metal abundance, with d(m-M)/d[O/H] = -0.24+-0.16 mag/dex. The trend is in the theoretically predicted sense that metal-rich Cepheids appear brighter and closer than metal-poor stars. External comparisons of Cepheid distances with those derived from three other distance indicators, in particular the tip of the red giant branch method, further constrain the magnitude of any Z-dependence of the PL relation at V and I. The overall effects of any metallicity dependence on the distance scale derived with HST will be of the order of a few percent or less for most applications, though distances to individual galaxies at the extremes of the metal abundance range may be affected at the 10% level.

28 pages, 4 tables, 10 figures, to appear in The Astrophysical Journal

References in corpus (11)

• Planetary Nebulae as standard candles XI. Application to Spiral Galaxies
• The I-Band Tully-Fisher Relation for Cluster Galaxies: a Template Relation, its Scatter and Bias Corrections
• Cepheid Period-Radius and Period-Luminosity Relations and the Distance to the LMC
• The "Tip" of the Red Giant Branch as a distance indicator: results from evolutionary models
• Extinction Map of Baade's Window
• Chemical Abundances in Virgo Spiral Galaxies II: Effects of Cluster Environment
• Hipparcos Parallaxes and the Cepheid Distance Scale
• Rebuilding the Cepheid Distance Scale I: A Global Analysis of Cepheid Mean Magnitudes
• DIRECT Distances to Nearby Galaxies Using Detached Eclipsing Binaries and Cepheids. II. Variables in the Field M31A
• The Distance to IC 10 from Near-Infrared Observations of Cepheids
• Calibration of the Fundamental Plane Zero-point in the Leo-I Group and an Estimate of the Hubble Constant

Cited by in corpus (192)

• Final Results from the Hubble Space Telescope Key Project to Measure the Hubble Constant
• Stellar mass-to-light ratios and the Tully-Fisher relation
• A 3% Solution: Determination of the Hubble Constant with the Hubble Space Telescope and Wide Field Camera 3
• A Semi-Analytic Model for the Co-evolution of Galaxies, Black Holes, and Active Galactic Nuclei
• LCDM-based models for the Milky Way and M31 I: Dynamical Models
• The Nature of High-Redshift Galaxies
• Measurements of the Hubble Constant: Tensions in Perspective
• The HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale. XXVIII. Combining the Constraints on the Hubble Constant
• The Resolved Properties of Extragalactic Giant Molecular Clouds
• Semi-analytic modeling of the EBL and consequences for extragalactic gamma-ray spectra
• The Composition Gradient in M101 Revisited. II. Electron Temperatures and Implications for the Nebular Abundance Scale
• Hubble Space Telescope Fine Guidance Sensor Parallaxes of Galactic Cepheid Variable Stars: Period-Luminosity Relations
• The Hubble Constant
• The Hubble Constant: A Summary of the HST Program for the Luminosity Calibration of Type Ia Supernovae by Means of Cepheids
• H0 Revisited
• Astrometry with Hubble Space Telescope: A Parallax of the Fundamental Distance Calibrator delta Cephei
• The CosmoVerse White Paper: Addressing observational tensions in cosmology with systematics and fundamental physics
• The SBF Survey of Galaxy Distances. II. Local and Large-Scale Flows
• Distances to Galaxies from the Correlation Between Luminosities and Linewidths. III. Cluster Template and Global Measurements of H0
• A new Cepheid distance to the maser-host galaxy NGC 4258 and its implications for the Hubble Constant
• Planetary Nebulae as Standard Candles. XII. Connecting the Population I and Population II Distance Scales
• The HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale XXVI. The Calibration of Population II Secondary Distance Indicators and the Value of the Hubble Constant
• Measuring Distances and Probing the Unresolved Stellar Populations of Galaxies Using Infrared Surface Brightness Fluctuations
• Galaxy Properties from the Ultra-violet to the Far-Infrared: Lambda-CDM models confront observations
• The Hubble Space Telescope Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale XXIV: The Calibration of Tully-Fisher Relations and the Value of the Hubble Constant
• The influence of chemical composition on the properties of Cepheid stars. II-The iron content
• The Effect of Metallicity on Cepheid-Based Distances
• Median Statistics, H_0, and the Accelerating Universe
• Type Ia Supernovae and the Hubble Constant
• The Type Ia Supernova 1998bu in M96 and the Hubble Constant
• Cepheid Distances to SNe Ia Host Galaxies based on a Revised Photometric Zero-Point of the HST-WFPC2 and New P-L Relations and Metallicity Corrections
• A New Cepheid Distance to the Giant Spiral M101 Based On Image Subtraction of HST/ACS Observations
• Cepheid Calibrations from the Hubble Space Telescope of the Luminosity of Two Recent Type Ia Supernovae and a Re-determination of the Hubble Constant
• On the [CII]-SFR relation in high redshift galaxies
• A Database of Cepheid Distance Moduli and TRGB, GCLF, PNLF and SBF Data Useful for Distance Determinations
• On the Effect of Rotation on Populations of Classical Cepheids II. Pulsation Analysis for Metallicities 0.014, 0.006, and 0.002
• The Correlation of Star Formation Quenching with Internal Galaxy Properties and Environment
• Intermediate-mass star models with different helium and metal contents
• The HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale XXV. A Recalibration of Cepheid Distances to Type Ia Supernovae and the Value of the Hubble Constant
• GeV Gamma-Ray Attenuation and the High-Redshift UV Background
• Insights into the Cepheid distance scale
• Astrometry with Hubble Space Telescope: A Parallax of the Fundamental Distance Calibrator RR Lyrae
• The Cepheid Distance to NGC 1637: A Direct Test of the EPM Distance to SN 1999em
• Cepheid calibration of type Ia Supernovae and the Hubble constant
• Theoretical Models for Classical Cepheids: II. Period-Luminosity, Period-Color and Period-Luminosity-Color Relations
• The effect of metallicity on the Cepheid Period-Luminosity relation from a Baade-Wesselink analysis of Cepheids in the Galaxy and in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• A blinded determination of $H_0$ from low-redshift Type Ia supernovae, calibrated by Cepheid variables
• The nature of the Diffuse Gamma-Ray Background
• Star Formation in the Field and Clusters of NGC 5253
• Cepheid Period-Luminosity Relations in the Near-Infrared and the Distance to M31 from the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3
• A new measurement of the Hubble constant using Type Ia supernovae calibrated with surface brightness fluctuations
• Cepheid pulsation models at varying metallicity and DY/DZ
• Quantitative Spectroscopy of Blue Supergiant Stars in the Disk of M81: Metallicity, Metallicity Gradient and Distance
• The Discovery of Cepheids and a Distance to NGC 5128
• Supernova type Ia luminosities, their dependence on second parameters, and the value of H_0
• Gas Infall and Stochastic Star Formation in Galaxies in the Local Universe
• Cepheid Calibrations of Modern Type Ia Supernovae:Implications for the Hubble Constant
• Determination of the Hubble Constant Using a Two-Parameter Luminosity Correction for Type Ia Supernovae
• Characteristics of the Galaxy according to Cepheids
• Calibrating the Cepheid Period-Luminosity relation from the infrared surface brightness technique II. The effect of metallicity, and the distance to the LMC
• Deep HST Imaging of IC 1613. I. Variable Stars and Distance
• The HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale. XV. A Cepheid Distance to the Fornax Cluster and Its Implications
• Chemical Abundances of Planetary Nebulae in the Bulge and Disk of M31
• Analytic Time Delays and H_0 Estimates for Gravitational Lenses
• Theoretical models for classical Cepheids. VIII. Effects of helium and heavy elements abundance on the Cepheid distance scale
• Young Clusters in the Nuclear Starburst of M 83
• The First Galaxies: Assembly of Disks and Prospects for Direct Detection
• Pulsation and evolutionary masses of classical Cepheids. I. Milky Way variables
• NICMOS Observations of Extragalactic Cepheids. I. Photometry Database and a Test of the Standard Extinction Law
• The Extragalactic Distance Scale Key Project XXVII. A Derivation of the Hubble Constant Using the Fundamental Plane and Dn-Sigma Relations in Leo I, Virgo, and Fornax
• Spectroscopic Observations of SN 2012fr: A Luminous Normal Type Ia Supernova with Early High Velocity Features and Late Velocity Plateau
• A multivariate statistical analysis of spiral galaxy luminosities. I. Data and results
• The Metallicity Distribution Functions of SEGUE G and K dwarfs: Constraints for Disk Chemical Evolution and Formation
• Cepheids in external galaxies. I. The maser-host galaxy NGC 4258 and the metallicity dependence of P-L and P-W relations
• Early-type Galaxy Distances from the Fundamental Plane and Surface Brightness Fluctuations
• The Distances to Open Clusters from Main-Sequence Fitting. IV. Galactic Cepheids, the LMC, and the Local Distance Scale
• Warm dust in high-z galaxies: origin and implications
• A Study of Cepheids in M81 with the Large Binocular Telescope (Efficiently Calibrated with HST)
• Determination of the Hubble constant, the intrinsic scatter of luminosities of Type Ia SNe, and evidence for non-standard dust in other galaxies
• The DIRECT Project: Influence of Blending on the Cepheid Distance Scale. I. Cepheids in M31
• The star formation histories of low surface brightness galaxies
• Baade-Wesselink distances to Galactic and Magellanic Cloud Cepheids and the effect of metallicity
• GEMS: which galaxies dominate the z~0.7 ultraviolet luminosity density?
• A ``Short'' Distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud With the Hipparcos Calibrated Red Clump Stars
• Analysis of Four A-F Supergiants in M31 from Keck HIRES Spectroscopy
• Toward a New Geometric Distance to the Active Galaxy NGC4258: I. VLBI Monitoring of Water Maser Emission
• Classical Cepheid Pulsation Models. XI. Effects of convection and chemical composition on the Period-Luminosity and Period-Wesenheit relations
• Dust temperature in ALMA $\hbox{[C $\scriptstyle\rm II $]}$-detected high-$z$ galaxies
• Gemini observations of Wolf-Rayet Stars in the Local Group Starburst Galaxy IC10
• Cepheid theoretical models and observations in HST/WFC3 filters: the effect on the Hubble constant Ho
• Deep HST Imaging of Sextans A. II. Cepheids and Distance
• The effect of metallicity on Cepheid Period-Luminosity relations from a Baade-Wesselink analysis of Cepheids in the Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds
• Probing recent star formation with absorption-line strengths in hierarchical models and observations
• The Infrared Surface Brightness Fluctuation Hubble Constant
• The Araucaria Project. Infrared TRGB distances to the Carina and Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxies
• An Improved Calibration of the Wavelength Dependence of Metallicity on the Cepheid Leavitt law
• The ACS LCID Project. II. Faint Variable Stars in the Isolated Dwarf Irregular Galaxy IC1613
• The Extragalactic Distance Scale Key Project XVIII. The Discovery of Cepheids and a New Distance to NGC 4535 Using the Hubble Space Telescope
• Uncertainties on the theoretical predictions for classical Cepheid pulsational quantities
• Are cold flows detectable with metal absorption lines?
• The Discovery of Cepheids and a New Distance to NGC 2841 Using the Hubble Space Telescope
• The expansion field: The value of H_0
• The Araucaria Project. A Distance Determination to the Local Group Spiral M33 from Near-Infrared Photometry of Cepheid Variables
• The Hubble Space Telescope Extragalactic Distance Scale Key Project. X. The Cepheid Distance to NGC 7331
• Revisiting the abundance gradient in the maser host galaxy NGC 4258
• A revised Cepheid distance to NGC 4258 and a test of the distance scale
• Witnessing galaxy assembly at the edge of the reionization epoch
• The Carnegie-Chicago Hubble Program. VII. The Distance to M101 via the Optical Tip of the Red Giant Branch Method
• Pulsation Models for Ultra-Low (Z=0.0004) Metallicity Classical Cepheids
• Baade-Wesselink distances and the effect of metallicity in classical cepheids
• The Hubble Constant and the Expansion Age of the Universe
• Two New Tests of the Metallicity Sensitivity of the Cepheid Period-Luminosity Relation (The Leavitt Law)
• The Distances of the Magellanic Clouds
• Determination of the Distance to M33 Based on Single Epoch I-band HST Observations of Cepheids
• The HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale XIV. The Cepheids in NGC 1365
• Planetary nebulae in M33: probes of AGB nucleosynthesis and ISM abundances
• Star Formation at the Twilight of the Dark Ages: Which Stars Reionized the Universe?
• Star Formation Stochasticity Measured from the Distribution of Burst Indicators
• Radio Jet Feedback and Star Formation in Heavily Obscured Quasars at Redshifts ~0.3-3, I: ALMA Observations
• The ACS LCID Project. VIII. The short-period Cepheids of Leo A
• Narrowband CCD Photometry of Giant HII Regions
• An updated metal-dependent theoretical scenario for Classical Cepheids
• The metallicity dependence of the Cepheid PL-relation
• Using Ultra Long Period Cepheids to Extend the Cosmic Distance Ladder to 100 Mpc and Beyond
• Supernova 1991T and the Value of the Hubble Constant
• The Mira Distance to M101 and a 4% Measurement of H0
• A Panoply of Cepheid Light Curve Templates
• The Carnegie Chicago Hubble Program: The Mid-Infrared Colours of Cepheids and the Effect of Metallicity on the CO Band-head at $4.6\mu$m
• On Cepheid Distance Scale Bias due to Stellar Companions and Cluster Populations
• CO luminosity function from Herschel-selected galaxies and the contribution of AGN
• Theoretical fits of the δCephei light, radius and radial velocity curves
• Calibration of the distance scale from galactic Cepheids:II Use of the HIPPARCOS calibration
• The Distance to M101 Hosting Type Ia SN 2011fe Based on the Tip of the Red Giant Branch
• GAIA and the Extragalactic Distance Scale
• Concerning the Classical Cepheid VIc Wesenheit Function's Strong Metallicity Dependence
• The Carnegie Hubble Program: The Infrared Leavitt Law in IC 1613
• A Direct Stellar Metallicity Determination in the Disk of the Maser Galaxy NGC4258
• The distance to the Fornax dwarf galaxy using red clump stars, and the discrepancy between red clump and tip of the red giant branch distances
• The HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale. XXII. The Discovery of Cepheids in NGC 1326-A
• The PEP survey: clustering of infrared-selected galaxies and structure formation at z~2 in the GOODS South
• The Hubble Space Telescope Extragalactic Distance Scale Key Project XXIII. The Discovery of Cepheids In NGC 3319
• A precision determination of the Effect of Metallicity on Cepheid absolute magnitudes in VIJHK bands from Magellanic Cloud Cepheids
• Current Challenges in Cepheid Distance Calibrations Using Gaia EDR3
• The Araucaria Project. Infrared Tip of the Red Giant Branch Distances to Five Dwarf Galaxies in the Local Group
• The Extragalactic Distance Scale without Cepheids
• Exploring the evolution of spiral galaxies
• Ultra Long Period Cepheids: a primary standard candle out to the Hubble flow
• The star-formation history of mass-selected galaxies from the VIDEO survey
• Self-Gravitating Eccentric Disk Models for the Double Nucleus of M31
• The Cepheid distance to the maser-host galaxy NGC 4258: Studying systematics with the Large Binocular Telescope
• The HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale XVII. The Cepheid Distance to NGC 4725
• A Cepheid Distance to NGC 4603 in Centaurus
• Nonlinear Period-Luminosity Relation for the Large Magellanic Cloud Cepheids: Myths and Truths
• Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury XIII: The Cepheid period-luminosity relation in M31
• The Cepheid Period-Luminosity relation and the maser distance to NGC 4258
• The Metallicity Dependence of the Cepheid P-L Relation in M101
• The Carnegie Chicago Hubble Program VI: Tip of the Red Giant Branch Distances to M66 and M96 of the Leo I Group
• The far-IR/radio correlation in the ISO era
• Extragalactic Water Masers, Geometric Estimation of H_o and Characterization of Dark Energy
• The Herschel-PEP survey: evidence for downsizing in the hosts of dusty star-forming systems
• Period-Luminosity Relations for Cepheid Variables: From Mid-Infrared to Multi-Phase
• On the Enhancement of Mass Loss in Cepheids Due to Radial Pulsation. II. The Effect of Metallicity
• The Araucaria Project. On the Tip of the Red Giant Branch distance determination to the Magellanic Clouds
• Infrared photometry of Cepheids in the LMC clusters NGC 1866 and NGC 2031
• Determination of the iron content of Cepheids from the shape of their light curves
• Chemical evolution of ${}^{26}$Al and ${}^{60}$Fe in the Milky Way
• Cosmological Parameters 2000
• On the Metallicity Dependence of Classical Cepheid Light Amplitudes
• The Cepheids of NGC1866: A Precise Benchmark for the Extragalactic Distance Scale and Stellar Evolution from Modern UBVI Photometry
• Theoretical Cepheid Period-Luminosity And Period-Color Relations In Spitzer IRAC Bands
• Exponential Stellar Disks in Low Surface Brightness Galaxies: A Critical Test of Viscous Evolution
• Young and Intermediate-age Distance Indicators
• Brightest stars of irregular and low-massive spiral galaxies
• The influence of chemical composition on the properties of Cepheid stars I - Period-Luminosity relation vs iron abundance
• Predicting the peculiar velocities of nearby PSC-z galaxies using the Least Action Principle
• Identifying Contaminated K-band Globular Cluster RR Lyrae Photometry
• An application of Galactic parallax: the distance to the tidal stream GD-1
• Dissecting Galaxies with Quantitative Spectroscopy of the Brightest Stars in the Universe
• Oxygen-rich dust production in IC 10
• Distances to Galaxies from the Brightest Stars in the Universe
• The Ups and Downs of the Hubble Constant
• Improved Measurements of Galaxy Star Formation Stochasticity from the Intrinsic Scatter of Burst Indicators
• Study of the effect of metallicity on the amplitudes of Cepheids
• Clustering of Local Group distances: publication bias or correlated measurements? VII. A distance framework out to 100 Mpc
• On the impact of Helium abundance on the Cepheid Period-Luminosity and Wesenheit relations and the Distance Ladder
• Measuring the Hubble Constant with the Hubble Space Telescope
• A Review on Resolving the Hubble Tension via Late-Universe Physics
• A large-scale survey for variable stars in M33
• Properties of X-ray detected far-IR AGN in the green valley
• The contribution of microlensing surveys to the distance scale
• Very metal poor Classical Cepheids: variables in IZw18
• A Cepheid distance to NGC 4258