Mid-Infrared Period$-$Luminosity Relations for Miras in the Large Magellanic Cloud

TL;DR

This paper establishes highly accurate mid-infrared period-luminosity relations for Mira variables in the Large Magellanic Cloud, enabling precise distance measurements for these stars.

Contribution

It presents the most accurate mid-IR PLRs for Mira variables, separately for O-rich and C-rich types, covering a broad wavelength range from 3.4 to 22 micrometers.

Findings

PLRs enable 5% distance accuracy for O-rich Miras

PLRs enable 12% distance accuracy for C-rich Miras

First comprehensive mid-IR PLRs for Miras in LMC

Abstract

We present the mid-infrared (mid-IR) period$-$luminosity relations (PLRs) using over 1000 Mira variables in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), for the four Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and the four Spitzer bands. These PLRs cover a mid-IR wavelength range from $3.4$ $\mu$m to $22$ $\mu$m and are presented separately for the oxygen-rich (O-rich) and carbon-rich (C-rich) Miras. These relations can be used to measure distances to individual O-rich and/or C-rich Mira stars with the accuracy of $5\%$ and $12\%$, respectively. They are the most accurate Mira PLRs in the mid-IR to date.