A homogeneous distance catalogue for Galactic RV Tauri objects

TL;DR

This paper develops a homogeneous distance catalogue for Galactic RV Tauri stars by utilizing period luminosity relationships and spectral energy distributions, aiding in understanding their physical properties and evolutionary status.

Contribution

It introduces a new distance catalogue for Galactic RV Tauri stars based on PLRs and SED analysis, improving constraints on their physical parameters.

Findings

Established period luminosity relationships for RV Tauri stars.

Generated spectral energy distributions for individual objects.

Provided a new distance catalogue for Galactic RV Tauri stars.

Abstract

A subset of Post-AGB (PAGB) objects are the highly luminous RV Tauri variables that show similarities to Type-II Cepheids. By using a sample of known RV Tauri stars from the Magellanic Clouds we are able to determine period luminosity relationships (PLRs) in various bands that have been used to determine the luminosities of their Galactic counterparts. We have gathered all available photometry in order to generate an SED for each object and determine the total integrated flux. This total flux combined with a calculated or inferred intrinsic luminosity leads to a distance (Vickers et al. 2015). This distance catalogue has allowed us to begin to constrain the physical parameters of this poorly understood evolutionary phase and to determine links between these physical characteristics as a function of their stellar population.