Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury XIII: The Cepheid period-luminosity relation in M31

TL;DR

This study uses HST observations to establish new period-luminosity relations for Cepheids in M31, providing refined distance measurements and highlighting discrepancies caused by observational contamination.

Contribution

The paper presents the first P-L relations in F475W and F814W filters for M31 Cepheids and investigates differences between ground-based and HST data.

Findings

Derived M31 distance moduli of 24.51 and 24.32 in IR and visual bands.

Identified significant discrepancies between ground-based and HST P-L relations.

Detected a radial trend in the P-L relation unrelated to metallicity.

Abstract

Using Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys (HST/ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) observations from the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT), we present new period-luminosity (P-L) relations for Cepheid variables in M31. Cepheids from several ground-based studies are identified in the PHAT photometry to derive new P-L and Wesenheit P-L relations in the near infrared and visual filters. We derive a distance modulus to M31 of 24.51 +/- 0.08 in the IR bands and 24.32 +/- 0.09 in the visual bands, including the first P-L relations in the F475W and F814W filters for M31. Our derived visual and IR distance moduli disagree at slightly more than a 1{\sigma} level. Differences in the P-L relations between ground-based and HST observations are investigated for a subset of Cepheids. We find a significant discrepancy between ground-based and HST P-L relations with the same Cepheids, suggesting adverse effects from photometric contamination in ground-based Cepheid observations. Additionally, a statistically significant radial trend in the P-L relation is found which does not appear to be explained by metallicity.