The period-luminosity relation of long-period variables in the Large Magellanic Cloud observed with ATLAS

TL;DR

This paper measures the period-luminosity relation of long-period variables in the LMC using ATLAS data, enabling improved distance mapping of the Milky Way with all-sky coverage.

Contribution

First measurement of LPV period-luminosity relation in the LMC using ATLAS photometry, including amplitude conversions and sequence detection.

Findings

Reproduced known PL sequences A to E

Detected evidence for sequence F

Demonstrated ATLAS's capability to recover variability in red giants

Abstract

Period-luminosity relations of long period variables (LPVs) are a powerful tool to map the distances of stars in our galaxy, and are typically calibrated using stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Recent results demonstrated that these relations show a strong dependence on the amplitude of the variability, which can be used to greatly improve distance estimates. However, one of the only highly sampled catalogs of such variables in the LMC is based on OGLE photometry, which does not provide all-sky coverage. Here, we provide the first measurement of the period-luminosity relation of long-period variables in the LMC using photometry from the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). We derive conversions between ugriz, Gaia, and ATLAS c and o passbands with a precision of approximately 0.02 mag, which enable the measurement of reliable amplitudes with ATLAS for crowded fields. We successfully reproduce the known PL sequences A through E, and show evidence for sequence F using the ratios of amplitudes observed in both ATLAS pass-bands. Our work demonstrates that the ATLAS survey can recover variability in evolved red giants and lays the foundation for an all-sky distance map of the Milky Way using long-period variables.