Large-amplitude variables near the Galactic Centre

We report here the results of a 4-yr K -band (2.2 μm) survey for large-amplitude variable stars in a     area centred on the Galactic Centre. A total of 409 likely long-period variables (LPVs) were detected, for which positions, amplitudes, average magnitudes and periods were obtained whenever possible. The surface density of LPVs is more than ten times greater than in the Sgr I Baade window at        
The limits of completeness arising from interstellar and circumstellar absorption are discussed. Most of the area suffers interstellar extinction of     The shorter-period LPVs are less luminous than the longer-period ones and may be slightly under-represented in the data. Extremely heavy extinction     which affects the probability of detecting variables, occurs in less than 25 per cent of the area.
Almost all of the LPVs are Miras or OH/IR stars, with periods ranging from 150 d to about 800 d. K -band counterparts have been found for 59 per cent of the 109 known OH sources in the field. The average period of the variables found is 427 d, while that of the OH/IR stars is 524 d. For comparison, the average period in the Sgr I window, which contains no known OH/IR stars, is 333 d and only two stars are detected with     The survey field also contains a number of long-period, large-amplitude variables that are not OH emitters.     

The structure of the Galactic bar

We present a deep near-infrared wide-angle photometric analysis of the structure of the inner Galactic bar and central disc. The presence of a triaxial structure at the centre of the Galaxy is confirmed, consistent with a bar inclined at  22°± 55  from the Sun—Galactic Centre line, extending to approximately 2.5 kpc from the Galactic Centre and with a rather small axis ratio. A feature at  ℓ=−98  not aligned with this triaxiality suggests the existence of a second structure in the inner Galaxy, a double triaxiality or an inner ring. We argue that this is likely to be the signature of the end of the Galactic bar, at approximately 2.5–3 kpc, which is circumscribed by an inner pseudo-ring. No thick dust lane preceding the bar is detected and a hole in the dust distribution of the disc inside the bar radius is inferred.     

Parallax microlensing events in the OGLE II data base toward the Galactic bulge

We present a systematic search for parallax microlensing events among a total of 512 microlensing candidates in the OGLE II data base for the  1997–1999  seasons. We fit each microlensing candidate with both the standard microlensing model and a parallax model that accounts for the Earth's motion around the Sun. We then search for the parallax signature by comparing the χ ² of the standard and parallax models. For the events which show a significant improvement, we further use the 'duration' of the event and the signal-to-noise ratio as criteria to separate true parallax events from other noisy microlensing events. We have discovered one convincing new candidate, sc33_4505, and seven other marginal cases. The convincing candidate (sc33_4505) is caused by a slow-moving, and likely low-mass, object, similar to other known parallax events. We found that irregular sampling and gaps between observing seasons hamper the recovery of parallax events. We have also searched for long-duration events that do not show parallax signatures. The lack of parallax effects in a microlensing event puts a lower limit on the Einstein radius projected on to the observer plane, which in turn imposes a lower limit on the lens mass divided by the relative lens–source parallax. Most of the constraints are however quite weak.     

Mira kinematics from Hipparcos data: a Galactic bar to beyond the Solar circle

The space motions of Mira variables are derived from radial velocities, Hipparcos proper motions and a period–luminosity relation. The previously known dependence of Mira kinematics on the period of pulsation is confirmed and refined. In addition, it is found that Miras with periods in the range 145–200 d in the general Solar neighbourhood have a net radial outward motion from the Galactic Centre of 75±18 km s⁻¹. This, together with a lag behind the circular velocity of Galactic rotation of 98±19 km s⁻¹, is interpreted as evidence for an elongation of their orbits, with their major axes aligned at an angle of ∼17° with the Sun–Galactic Centre line, towards positive Galactic longitudes. This concentration seems to be a continuation to the Solar circle and beyond of the bar-like structure of the Galactic bulge, with the orbits of some local Miras probably penetrating into the bulge. These conclusions are not sensitive to the distance scale adopted. A further analysis is given of the short-period (SP) red group of Miras discussed in companion papers in this series. In Appendix A the mean radial velocities and other data for 842 oxygen-rich Mira-like variables are tabulated. These velocities were derived from published optical and radio observations.     

Repeating microlensing events in the OGLE data

Microlensing events are usually selected among single-peaked non-repeating light curves in order to avoid confusion with variable stars. However, a microlensing event may exhibit a second microlensing brightening episode when the source or/and the lens is a binary system. A careful analysis of these repeating events provides an independent way to study the statistics of wide binary stars and to detect extrasolar planets. Previous theoretical studies predicted that 0.5–2 per cent of events should repeat due to wide binary lenses. We present a systematic search for such events in about 4000 light curves of microlensing candidates detected by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) towards the Galactic bulge from 1992 to 2007. The search reveals a total of 19 repeating candidates, with six clearly due to a wide binary lens. As a by-product, we find that 64 events (∼2 per cent of the total OGLE-III sample) have been misclassified as microlensing; these misclassified events are mostly nova or other types of eruptive stars. The number and importance of repeating events will increase considerably when the next-generation wide-field microlensing experiments become fully operational in the future.     

A near-infrared survey of Miras and the distance to the Galactic Centre

We report the results of a near-infrared survey for long-period variables in a field of view of 20× 30 arcmin² towards the Galactic Centre (GC). We have detected 1364 variables, of which 348 are identified with those reported in Glass et al. We present a catalogue and photometric measurements for the detected variables and discuss their nature. We also establish a method for the simultaneous estimation of distances and extinctions using the period–luminosity relations for the JHK _s bands. Our method is applicable to Miras with periods in the range 100–350 d and mean magnitudes available in two or more filter bands. While J band means are often unavailable for our objects because of the large extinction, we estimated distances and extinctions for 143 Miras whose H - and   K _s  -band mean magnitudes are obtained. We find that most are located at the same distance to within our accuracy. Assuming that the barycentre of these Miras corresponds to the GC, we estimate its distance modulus to be  14.58 ± 0.02 (stat.) ± 0.11 (syst.) mag  , corresponding to  8.24 ± 0.08 (stat.) ± 0.42 (syst.) kpc  . We have assumed the distance modulus to the Large Magellanic Cloud to be 18.45 mag, and the uncertainty in this quantity is included in the above systematic error. We also discuss the large and highly variable extinction. Its value ranges from 1.5 mag to larger than 4 mag in     except towards the thicker dark nebulae and it varies in a complicated way with the line of sight. We have identified mid-infrared counterparts in the Spitzer /IRAC catalogue of Ramírez et al. for most of our variables and find that they follow rather narrow period–luminosity relations in the 3.6–8.0 μm wavelength range.     

Detection of the old stellar component of the major Galactic bar

We present near-infrared colour–magnitude diagrams and star counts for a number of regions along the Galactic plane. It is shown that along the l =27°, b =0° line of sight there is a feature at 5.7±0.7 kpc with a density of stars at least a factor of 2 and probably more than a factor of 5 times that of the disc at the same position. This feature forms a distinct clump on an H versus J − H diagram and is seen at all longitudes from the bulge to about l =28°, but at no longitude greater than this. The distance to the feature at l =20° is about 0.5 kpc further than at l =27°, and by l =10° it has merged with, or has become, the bulge. Given that at l =27° and l =21° there is also a clustering of very young stars, the only component that can reasonably explain what is seen is a bar with half-length of around 4 kpc and a position angle of about 43°±7°.     

Asymptotic giant branch variables in Baade's Windows

In this work, a sample of luminous M-type giants in the Baade's Windows towards the inner Galactic bulge is investigated in the near-infrared. The ISOGAL survey at 7 and 15 μm has given information concerning the mass-loss rates of these stars and their variability characteristics have been extracted from the MACHO data base. Most are known to be semi-regular variables (SRVs). Here we discuss how their IJHK _S -region colours depend on period and on the presence or absence of mass loss, using results mainly taken from the DENIS and 2MASS surveys.
In order to compare their colours with solar neighbourhood stars, photometric colours on the DENIS, 2MASS and ESO photometric systems have been synthesized for objects in the spectrophotometric atlas of Lançon & Wood. In addition, they have been used to predict the differences in colour indices when stars with strong molecular bands are observed using different photometric systems.
The SRVs are found to inhabit the upper end of the     , K _S colour–magnitude diagram, lying just below the Miras. High mass-loss rates are associated with high luminosity. The near-infrared colours of the SRVs increase in a general way with period and are the reddest for stars with significant mass loss. The average colours of Mira variables, whose periods start at around 200 d in the bulge, are bluer than those of the semi-regulars at this period, particularly in     , thanks to the association of deep water vapour bands with large amplitude.     

The kinematics and zero-point of the log P–〈MK〉 relation for Galactic RR Lyrae variables via statistical parallax

We use accurate absolute proper motions and Two-Micron All-Sky Survey   K_s   -band apparent magnitudes for 364 Galactic RR Lyrae variables to determine the kinematical parameters of the Galactic RR Lyrae population and constrain the zero-point of the   K_s   -band period–luminosity relation for these stars via statistical parallax. We find the mean velocities of the halo- and thick-disc RR Lyrae populations in the solar neighbourhood to be  [ U ₀(Halo), V ₀(Halo), W ₀(Halo)]= (−12 ± 10, −217 ± 9, −6 ± 6) km s⁻¹  and  [ U ₀(Disc), V ₀(Disc), W ₀(Disc)]= (−15 ± 7, −44 ± 7, −25 ± 5) km s⁻¹  , respectively, and the corresponding components of the velocity-dispersion ellipsoids,  [σ V_R (Halo), σ V _θ(Halo), σ W (Halo)]= (167 ± 9, 86 ± 6, 78 ± 5) km s⁻¹  and  [σ V_R (Disc), σ V _θ(Disc), σ W (Disc)]= (55 ± 7, 44 ± 6, 30 ± 4) km s⁻¹  , respectively. The fraction of thick-disc stars is estimated at  0.25 ± 0.03  . The corrected infrared period–luminosity relation is     , implying a Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) distance modulus of  18.27 ± 0.08  and a solar Galactocentric distance of  7.58 ± 0.40 kpc  . Our results suggest no or slightly prograde rotation for the population of halo RR Lyraes in the Milky Way.