The Large Magellanic Cloud and the Distance Scale

TL;DR

This paper reviews various distance measurement methods for the Large Magellanic Cloud, demonstrating their agreement and establishing a precise distance modulus of 18.48 mag, which is crucial for cosmic distance scale calibration.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive comparison of multiple distance indicators for the LMC, confirming their consistency and refining the distance measurement to 3% accuracy.

Findings

Distance indicators agree within errors

Mean distance modulus is 18.48 mag

Corresponds to 49.7 Kpc

Abstract

The Magellanic Clouds, especially the Large Magellanic Cloud, are places where multiple distance indicators can be compared with each other in a straight-forward manner at considerable precision. We here review the distances derived from Cepheids, Red Variables, RR Lyraes, Red Clump Stars and Eclipsing Binaries, and show that the results from these distance indicators generally agree to within their errors, and the distance modulus to the Large Magellanic Cloud appears to be defined to 3% with a mean value of 18.48 mag, corresponding to 49.7 Kpc. The utility of the Magellanic Clouds in constructing and testing the distance scale will remain as we move into the era of Gaia.