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We present new estimates of the relative distance of the Magellanic Clouds (MCs) by using NIR and Optical-NIR Cepheid Period Wesenheit (PW) relations. The relative distances are independent of uncertainties affecting the zero-point of the PW relations, but do depend on the adopted pivot periods. We estimated the pivot periods for fundamental (FU) and first overtone (FO) Cepheids on the basis of their period distributions. We found that log P=0.5 (FU) and log P=0.3 (FO) are solid choices, since they trace a main peak and a shoulder in LMC and SMC period distributions. By using the above pivot periods and ten PW relations, we found MC relative distances of 0.53$\pm$0.06 (FU) and 0.53$\pm$0.07 (FO) mag. Moreover, we investigated the possibility to use mixed-mode (FU/FO, FO/SO) Cepheids as distance indicators and we found that they follow quite well the PW relations defined by single mode MC Cepheids, with deviations typically smaller than 0.3{\sigma}., Comment: Proceeding of the conference: EWASS 2012 - Stellar Populations: 55 years after the Vatican conference

We present the largest near-infrared (NIR) data sets, $JHKs$, ever collected for classical Cepheids in the Magellanic Clouds (MCs). We selected fundamental (FU) and first overtone (FO) pulsators, and found 4150 (2571 FU, 1579 FO) Cepheids for Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and 3042 (1840 FU, 1202 FO) for Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Current sample is 2--3 times larger than any sample used in previous investigations with NIR photometry. We also discuss optical $VI$ photometry from OGLE-III. NIR and optical--NIR Period-Wesenheit (PW) relations are linear over the entire period range ($0.0<\log P_{\rm FU} \le1.65 $) and their slopes are, within the intrinsic dispersions, common between the MCs. These are consistent with recent results from pulsation models and observations suggesting that the PW relations are minimally affected by the metal content. The new FU and FO PW relations were calibrated using a sample of Galactic Cepheids with distances based on trigonometric parallaxes and Cepheid pulsation models. By using FU Cepheids we found a true distance moduli of $18.45\pm0.02{\rm(random)}\pm0.10{\rm(systematic)}$ mag (LMC) and $18.93\pm0.02{\rm(random)}\pm0.10{\rm(systematic)}$ mag (SMC). These estimates are the weighted mean over ten PW relations and the systematic errors account for uncertainties in the zero-point and in the reddening law. We found similar distances using FO Cepheids ($18.60\pm0.03{\rm(random)}\pm0.10{\rm(systematic)}$ mag [LMC] and $19.12\pm0.03{\rm(random)}\pm0.10{\rm(systematic)}$ mag [SMC]). These new MC distances lead to the relative distance, $\Delta\mu=0.48\pm0.03$ mag (FU, $\log P=1$) and $\Delta\mu=0.52\pm0.03$ mag (FO, $\log P=0.5$),which agrees quite well with previous estimates based on robust distance indicators., Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures

We have performed accurate iron abundance measurements for 44 red giants (RGs) in the Carina dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy. We used archival, high-resolution spectra (R~38,000) collected with UVES at ESO/VLT either in slit mode (5) or in fiber mode (39, FLAMES/GIRAFFE-UVES). The sample is more than a factor of four larger than any previous spectroscopic investigation of stars in dSphs based on high-resolution (R>38,000) spectra. We did not impose the ionization equilibrium between neutral and singly-ionized iron lines. The effective temperatures and the surface gravities were estimated by fitting stellar isochrones in the V, B-V color-magnitude diagram. To measure the iron abundance of individual lines we applied the LTE spectrum synthesis fitting method using MARCS model atmospheres of appropriate metallicity. We found evidence of NLTE effects between neutral and singly-ionized iron abundances. Assuming that the FeII abundances are minimally affected by NLTE effects, we corrected the FeI stellar abundances using a linear fit between FeI and FeII stellar abundance determinations. We found that the Carina metallicity distribution based on the corrected FeI abundances (44 RGs) has a weighted mean metallicity of [Fe/H]=-1.80 and a weighted standard deviation of sigma=0.24 dex. The Carina metallicity distribution based on the FeII abundances (27 RGs) gives similar estimates ([Fe/H]=-1.72, sigma=0.24 dex). The current weighted mean metallicities are slightly more metal poor when compared with similar estimates available in the literature. Furthermore, if we restrict our analysis to stars with the most accurate iron abundances, ~20 FeI and at least three FeII measurements (15 stars), we found that the range in iron abundances covered by Carina RGs (~1 dex) agrees quite well with similar estimates based on high-resolution spectra., Comment: Accepted for publication in PASP, 16 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables, 1 MR table Note: the electronic version of Table1 is included, but commented, in the tex file

We introduce a new parameter {\Delta}{\xi} - the difference in magnitude between the red giant branch (RGB) bump and a point on the main sequence (MS) at the same color as the bump, the "benchmark" - to estimate the helium content in old stellar systems. Its sensitivity to helium is linear over the entire metallicity range, it is minimally affected by age, uncertainties in the photometric zero-point, reddening or the effects of evolution on the horizontal branch. The two main drawbacks are the need for precise and large photometric data sets, and a strong dependence of the {\Delta}Y/{\Delta}{\xi} slope on metallicity. To test the {\Delta}{\xi} parameter we selected 22 Galactic Globular Clusters (GGCs) with low foreground reddening, a broad range of iron abundance and precise, relatively deep, and homogeneous multi-band (B,V,I) photometry. We found that the observed {\Delta}{\xi} and those predicted from {\alpha}-enhanced models agree quite well if we assume Y=0.20. Comparison with canonical primordial helium content models (Y=0.245, {\Delta}Y/{\Delta}Z=1.4) indicates that the observed {\Delta}{\xi} values are systematically smaller than predicted. The outcome is the same if predicted parameters are based on models that take into account also CNO enhancements and becomes even larger if we consider He-enhanced models. These findings suggest that current stellar evolutionary models overestimate the luminosity of the RGB bump. We also found that including envelope overshooting can eliminate the discrepancy, as originally suggested by Alongi et al. (1993, aaps, 97, 851). The {\Delta}{\xi} parameter of GGCs, in spite of the possible limitations concerning the input physics of current evolutionary models, provides an independent detection of pre-stellar helium at least at the 5{\sigma} level.

We present new and accurate radial velocity (RV) measurements of luminous stars of all ages (old horizontal branch, intermediate--age red clump, and young blue plume, as well as red giants of a range of ages; 20.6

We present new deep and accurate space (Advanced Camera for Surveys -- Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 at the Hubble Space Telescope) and ground-based (Suprime-Cam at Subaru Telescope, Mega-Cam at Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope) photometric and astrometric data for the Local Group dwarf irregular IC10. We confirm the significant decrease of the young stellar population when moving from the center toward the outermost regions. We find that the tidal radius of IC10 is significantly larger than previous estimates of $r_t \lesssim$ 10\min. By using the $I$,\vmi\ Color Magnitude Diagram based on the Suprime-Cam data we detect sizable samples of red giant (RG) stars up to radial distances of 18-23$'$ from the galactic center. The ratio between observed star counts (Mega-Cam data) across the tip of the RG branch and star counts predicted by Galactic models indicate a star count excess at least at a 3$\sigma$ level up to 34-42\min\ from the center. This finding supports the hypothesis that the huge H{\size{I}} cloud covering more than one degree across the galaxy is associated with IC10 \citep{huchtmeier79,cohen79}. We also provide new estimates of the total luminosity ($L_V\sim9\times$$10^7$ $L_\odot$, $M_V$$\sim$-15.1 mag) that agrees with similar estimates available in the literature. If we restrict to the regions where rotational velocity measurements are available (r$\approx13'$), we find a mass-to-light ratio ($\sim$10 $M_\odot$ $L_\odot$) that is at least one order of magnitude larger than previous estimates. The new estimate should be cautiously treated, since it is based on a minimal fraction of the body of the galaxy., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, ApJ Letters accepted

We present precise and deep optical photometry of the globular M92. Data were collected in three different photometric systems: Sloan Digital Sky Survey (g',r',i',z'; MegaCam@CFHT), Johnson-Kron-Cousins (B, V, I; various ground-based telescopes) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) Vegamag (F475W, F555W, F814W; Hubble Space Telescope). Special attention was given to the photometric calibration, and the precision of the ground-based data is generally better than 0.01 mag. We computed a new set of {\alpha}-enhanced evolutionary models accounting for the gravitational settling of heavy elements at fixed chemical composition ([{\alpha}/Fe]=+0.3, [Fe/H]=-2.32 dex, Y=0.248). The isochrones -- assuming the same true distance modulus ({\mu}=14.74 mag), the same reddening (E(B-V)=0.025+-0.010 mag), and the same reddening law -- account for the stellar distribution along the main sequence and the red giant branch in different Color-Magnitude Diagrams (i',g'-i' ; i',g'-r' ; i',g'-z' ; I,B-I ; F814W,F475W-F814W). The same outcome applies to the comparison between the predicted Zero-Age-Horizontal-Branch (ZAHB) and the HB stars. We also found a cluster age of 11 +/- 1.5 Gyr, in good agreement with previous estimates. The error budget accounts for uncertainties in the input physics and the photometry. To test the possible occurrence of CNO-enhanced stars, we also computed two sets of {\alpha}- and CNO-enhanced (by a factor of three) models both at fixed total metallicity ([M/H]=-2.10 dex) and at fixed iron abundance. We found that the isochrones based on the former set give the same cluster age (11 +/- 1.5 Gyr) as the canonical {\alpha}-enhanced isochrones. The isochrones based on the latter set also give a similar cluster age (10 +/- 1.5 Gyr). These indings support previous results concerning the weak sensitivity of cluster isochrones to CNO-enhanced chemical mixtures., Comment: This paper makes use of data obtained from the Isaac Newton Group Archive which is maintained as part of the CASU Astronomical Data Centre at the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge. This research used the facilities of the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre operated by the National Research Council of Canada with the support of the Canadian Space Agency

We present U,B,V,I photometry of the Carina dwarf spheroidal galaxy, based on more than 4,000 CCD images. Special attention was given to the photometric calibration, and the precision for the B,V,I bands is better than 0.01 mag. We compared in the V,B-V and V,B-I color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) Carina with three Globular Clusters (GCs, M53, M55, M79). We find that only the more metal-poor GCs (M55, [Fe/H]=-1.85; M53, [Fe/H]=-2.02 dex) provide a good match with the Carina giant branch. We performed a similar comparison in the V,V-I CMD with three SMC intermediate-age clusters (IACs, Kron3, NGC339, Lindsay38). We find that the color extent of the SGB of the two more metal-rich IACs (Kron3, [Fe/H]=-1.08; NGC339, [Fe/H]=-1.36 dex) is smaller than the range among Carina's intermediate-age stars. However, the ridge line of the more metal-poor IAC (Lindsay38, [Fe/H]=-1.59 dex) agrees quite well with the Carina intermediate-age stars. These findings indicate that Carina's old stellar population is metal-poor and seems to have a limited spread in metallicity (Delta [Fe/H]=0.2--0.3 dex). Carina intermediate-age stars can hardly be more metal-rich than Lindsay38 and its spread in metallicity appears modest. We also find that the synthetic CMD constructed assuming a metallicity spread of 0.5 dex for intermediate-age stars predicts evolutionary features not supported by observations. The above results are at odds with recent spectroscopic investigations suggesting that Carina stars cover a broad range in metallicity (Delta [Fe/H]~1--2 dex). We present a new method to estimate the metallicity of complex stellar systems using the difference in color between the red clump and the middle of the RR Lyrae instability strip. The observed colors of Carina's evolved stars indicate a metallicity of [Fe/H]=-1.70+-0.19 dex, which agrees quite well with spectroscopic measurements., Comment: Accepted on PASP, 12 pages, 6 figures

We present an investigation of Cepheid distances using theory and observations. Cepheid models indicate that the slope of the Period-Luminosity (P-L) relation covering the entire period range (0.40<= logP <=2.0) becomes steeper when moving from optical to NIR bands, and that the metallicity dependence of the slope decreases from the B- to the K-band. We estimated V- and I-band slopes for 87 Cepheid data sets belonging to 48 external galaxies with nebular oxygen abundance 7.5<= 12+log (O/H) <=8.9. By using Cepheid samples including more than 20 Cepheids, the chi^2 test indicates that the hypothesis of a steepening of the P-L_{V,I} relations with increased metallicity can be discarded at the 99% level. On the contrary, the observed slopes agree with the metallicity trend predicted by pulsation models, i.e. the slope is roughly constant for galaxies with 12+log (O/H) < 8.17 and becomes shallower in the metal-rich regime, with a confidence level of 62% and 92%, respectively. The chi^2 test concerning the hypothesis that the slope does not depend on metallicity gives confidence levels either similar (P-L_V, 62%) or smaller (P-L_I, 67%). We found that the slopes of optical and NIR Period-Wesenheit (P-W) relations in external galaxies are similar to the slopes of LMC. On this ground, the P-W relations provide robust distances relative to the LMC, but theory and observations indicate that the metallicity dependence of the zero-point in the different passbands has to be taken into account. We compared the galaxy distances provided by Rizzi et al. (2007) using the TRGB with our set of Cepheid distances based on the P-W relations. We found that the metallicity correction on distances based on the P-WBV relation is gamma_(B,V)=-0.52 mag dex^-1, whereas it is vanishing for the distances based on the P-WVI and on the P-WJK relations. These findings fully support Cepheid theoretical predictions., Comment: Paper accepted for publication on ApJ (21 pages, 16 figures).

We provided accurate estimates of distances, radii and iron abundances for four metal-rich Cepheids, namely V340 Ara, UZ Sct, AV Sgr and VY Sgr. The main aim of this investigation is to constrain their pulsation properties and their location across the Galactic inner disk. We adopted new accurate NIR (J,H,K) light curves and new radial velocity measurements for the target Cepheids to determinate their distances and radii using the Baade-Wesselink technique. In particular, we adopted the most recent calibration of the IR surface brightness relation and of the projection factor. Moreover, we also provided accurate measurements of the iron abundance of the target Cepheids. Current distance estimates agree within one sigma with similar distances based either on empirical or on theoretical NIR Period-Luminosity relations. However, the uncertainties of the Baade-Wesselink distances are on average a factor of 3-4 smaller when compared with errors affecting other distance determinations. Mean Baade-Wesselink radii also agree at one sigma level with Cepheid radii based either on empirical or on theoretical Period-Radius relations. Iron abundances are, within one sigma, similar to the iron contents provided by Andrievsky and collaborators, thus confirming the super metal-rich nature of the target Cepheids. We also found that the luminosity amplitudes of classical Cepheids, at odds with RR Lyrae stars, do not show a clear correlation with the metal-content. This circumstantial evidence appears to be the consequence of the Hertzsprung progression together with the dependence of the topology of the instability strip on metallicity, evolutionary effects and binaries., Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, A&A accepted

We present new empirical estimates of the Delta V_HB_bump parameter for 15 Galactic globular clusters (GGCs) using accurate and homogeneous ground-based optical data. Together with similar evaluations available in the literature, we ended up with a sample of 62 GGCs covering a very broad range in metal content (-2.16<=[M/H]<=-0.58 dex). Adopting the homogeneous metallicity scale provided either by Kraft & Ivans (2004) or by Carretta et al. (2009), we found that the observed Delta V_HB_bump parameters are larger than predicted. In the metal-poor regime ([M/H]<=-1.7, -1.6 dex) 40% of GCs show discrepancies of 2sigma (~0.40 mag) or more. Evolutionary models that account either for alpha- and CNO-enhancement or for helium enhancement do not alleviate the discrepancy between theory and observations. The outcome is the same if we use the new Solar heavy-element mixture. The comparison between alpha- and CNO-enhanced evolutionary models and observations in the Carretta et al. metallicity scale also indicates that observed Delta V_HB_bump parameters, in the metal-rich regime ([M/H]=>0), might be systematically smaller than predicted.

We present a new method to estimate the absolute ages of stellar systems. This method is based on the difference in magnitude between the main sequence turn-off (MSTO) and a well defined knee located along the lower main sequence (MSK). This feature is caused by the collisionally induced absorption of molecular hydrogen and it can be easily identified in near-infrared (NIR) and in optical-NIR color-magnitude diagrams of stellar systems. We took advantage of deep and accurate NIR images collected with the Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics Demonstrator temporarily available on the Very Large Telescope and of optical images collected with the Advanced Camera for Surveys Wide Field Camera on the Hubble Space Telescope and with ground-based telescopes to estimate the absolute age of the globular NGC3201 using both the MSTO and the Delta(MSTO-MSK). We have adopted a new set of cluster isochrones and we found that the absolute ages based on the two methods agree to within one sigma. However, the errors of the ages based on the Delta(MSTO-MSK) method are potentially more than a factor of two smaller, since they are not affected by uncertainties in cluster distance or reddening.Current isochrones appear to predict slightly bluer (~0.05mag) NIR and optical-NIR colors than observed for magnitudes fainter than the MSK., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication on ApJL

We present new intermediate-band Stroemgren photometry based on more than 300 u,v,b,y images of the Galactic globular cluster Omega Cen. Optical data were supplemented with new multiband near-infrared (NIR) photometry (350 J,H,K_s images). The final optical-NIR catalog covers a region of more than 20*20 arcmin squared across the cluster center. We use different optical-NIR color-color planes together with proper motion data available in the literature to identify candidate cluster red giant (RG) stars. By adopting different Stroemgren metallicity indices we estimate the photometric metallicity for ~4,000 RGs, the largest sample ever collected. The metallicity distributions show multiple peaks ([Fe/H]_phot=-1.73+/-0.08,-1.29+/-0.03,-1.05+/-0.02,-0.80+/-0.04,-0.42+/-0.12 and -0.07+/-0.08 dex) and a sharp cut-off in the metal-poor tail ([Fe/H]_phot<=-2 dex) that agree quite well with spectroscopic measurements. We identify four distinct sub-populations,namely metal-poor (MP,[Fe/H]<=-1.49), metal-intermediate (MI,-1.49<[Fe/H]<=-0.93), metal-rich (MR,-0.95<[Fe/H]<=-0.15) and solar metallicity (SM,[Fe/H]~0). The last group includes only a small fraction of stars (~8+/-5%) and should be confirmed spectroscopically. Moreover, using the difference in metallicity based on different photometric indices, we find that the 19+/-1% of RGs are candidate CN-strong stars. This fraction agrees quite well with recent spectroscopic estimates and could imply a large fraction of binary stars. The Stroemgren metallicity indices display a robust correlation with alpha-elements ([Ca+Si/H]) when moving from the metal-intermediate to the metal-rich regime ([Fe/H]>-1.7 dex)., Comment: 28 pages, 22 figures, accepted on ApJ

Aims: The iron abundance gradient in the Galactic stellar disk provides fundamental constraints on the chemical evolution of this important Galaxy component. However the spread around the mean slope is, at fixed Galactocentric distance, larger than estimated uncertainties. Methods: To provide quantitative constraints on these trends we adopted iron abundances for 265 classical Cepheids (more than 50% of the currently known sample) based either on high-resolution spectra or on photometric metallicity indices. Homogeneous distances were estimated using near-infrared Period-Luminosity relations. The sample covers the four disk quadrants and their Galactocentric distances range from ~5 to ~17 kpc. Results: A linear regression over the entire sample provides an iron gradient of -0.051+/-0.004 dex/kpc. The above slope agrees quite well, within the errors, with previous estimates based either on Cepheids or on open clusters covering similar Galactocentric distances. However, once we split the sample in inner (Rg < 8 kpc) and outer disk Cepheids we found that the slope (-0.130+/-0.015 dex/kpc) in the former region is ~3 times steeper than the slope in the latter one (-0.042+/-0.004 dex/kpc). We found that in the outer disk the radial distribution of metal-poor (MP, [Fe/H]<-0.02 dex) and metal-rich (MR) Cepheids across the four disk quadrants does not show a clear trend when moving from the innermost to the external disk regions. We also found that the relative fractions of MP and MR Cepheids in the 1st and in the 3rd quadrant differ at 8 sigma (MP) and 15 sigma (MR) level., Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, A&A accepted

We investigate the stellar content of the starburst dwarf galaxy IC10 using accurate and deep optical data collected with the Advanced Camera for Surveys and with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on board the Hubble Space Telescope. The comparison between theory and observations indicates a clear change in age distribution when moving from the center toward the external regions. Moreover, empirical calibrators and evolutionary predictions suggest the presence of a spread in heavy element abundance of the order of one-half dex. The comparison between old and intermediate-age core He-burning models with a well defined overdensity in the color-magnitude diagram indicates the presence of both intermediate-age, red clump stars and of old, red horizontal branch stars., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in ApJL

We present accurate new ultraviolet and optical BVI photometry for the Galactic globular cluster ngc2808, based on both ground-based and archival HST imagery. From this we have selected a sample of ~2,000 HB stars; given the extensive wavelength range considered and the combination of both high-angular-resolution and wide-field photometric coverage, our sample should be minimally biased. We divide the HB stars into three radial bins and find that the relative fractions of cool, hot and extreme HB stars do not change radically when moving from the center to the outskirts of the cluster: the difference is typically smaller than ~2sigma. These results argue against the presence of strong radial differentiation among any stellar subpopulations having distinctly different helium abundances. The ratio between HB and RG stars brighter than the ZAHB steadly increases when moving from the innermost to the outermost cluster regions. The difference is larger than ~4sigma and indicates a deficiency of bright RGs in the outskirts of the cluster., Comment: accepted for publication on ApJ Letters

We present deep and accurate optical photometry of the Local Group starburst galaxy IC10. The photometry is based on two sets of images collected with the Advanced Camera for Surveys and with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on board the Hubble Space Telescope. We provide new estimates of the Red Giant Branch tip (TRGB) magnitude, m_{F814W}^{TRGB}=21.90+-0.03, and of the reddening, E(B-V)=0.78+-0.06, using field stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) as a reference. Adopting the SMC and two globulars, Omega Centauri and 47 Tucanae, as references we estimate the distance modulus to IC10: independent calibrations give weighted average distances of mu=24.51+-0.08 (TRGB) and mu=24.56+-0.08 (RR Lyrae). We also provide a new theoretical calibration for the TRGB luminosity, and using these predictions we find a very similar distance to IC10 (mu~24.60+-0.15). These results suggest that IC10 is a likely member of the M31 subgroup., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, ApJ Letters accepted

We present precise optical and near-infrared ground-based photometry of two Globular Clusters (GCs): Omega Cen and 47 Tuc. These photometric catalogs are unbiased in the Red Giant Branch (RGB) region close to the tip. We provide new estimates of the RGB tip (TRGB) magnitudes--m_I(TRGB)=9.84+/-0.05, Omega Cen; m_I(TRGB)=9.46+/-0.06, 47 Tuc--and use these to determine the relative distances of the two GCs. We find that distance ratios based on different calibrations of the TRGB, the RR Lyrae stars and kinematic distances agree with each other within one sigma. Absolute TRGB and RR Lyrae distance moduli agree within 0.10--0.15 mag, while absolute kinematic distance moduli are 0.2--0.3 mag smaller. Absolute distances to 47 Tuc based on the Zero-Age-Horizontal-Branch and on the white dwarf fitting agree within 0.1 mag, but they are 0.1--0.3 mag smaller than TRGB and RR Lyrae distances., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication by ApJL

We perform a detailed analysis of Cepheids in NGC 4258, Magellanic Clouds and Milky Way in order to verify the reliability of the theoretical scenario based on a large set of nonlinear convective pulsation models. We derive Wesenheit functions from the synthetic BVI magnitudes of the pulsators and we show that the sign and the extent of the metallicity effect on the predicted Period-Wesenheit (P-W) relations change according to the adopted passbands. These P-W relations are applied to measured BVI magnitudes of NGC 4258, Magellanic and Galactic Cepheids available in the literature. We find that Magellanic and Galactic Cepheids agree with the metallicity dependence of the predicted P-W relations. Concerning the NGC 4258 Cepheids, the results strongly depend on the adopted metallicity gradient across the galactic disc. The most recent nebular oxygen abundances support a shallower gradient and provide a metallicity dependence that agrees well with current pulsation predictions. Moreover, the comparison of Cepheid distances based on VI magnitudes with distance estimates based on the revised TRGB method for external galaxies, on the HST trigonometric parallaxes for Galactic Cepheids, and on eclipsing binaries in the Magellanic Clouds seems to favor the metallicity correction predicted by pulsation models. The sign and the extent of the metallicity dependence of the Period-Wesenheit and of the Period-Luminosity relations change according to the adopted passbands. Therefore, distances based on different methods and/or bands should not be averaged. The use of extragalactic Cepheids to constrain the metallicity effect requires new accurate and extensive nebular oxygen measurements., Comment: accepted for publication on ApJ

We present deep and accurate Near-Infrared (NIR) photometry of the Galactic Globular Cluster (GC) Omega Cen. Data were collected using the Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics Demonstrator (MAD) on VLT (ESO). The unprecedented quality of the images provided the opportunity to perform accurate photometry in the central crowded regions. Preliminary results indicate that the spread in age among the different stellar populations in Omega Cen is limited., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the Springer Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, "Science with the VLT in the ELT era", ed. A. Moorwood

We present new empirical and theoretical calibrations of two photometric metallicity indices based on Walraven photometry. The empirical calibration relies on a sample of 48 Cepheids for which iron abundances based on high resolution spectra are available in the literature. They cover a broad range in metal abundance (-0.5 < [Fe/H] < +0.5) and the intrinsic accuracy of the Metallicity Index Color (MIC) relations is better than 0.2 dex. The theoretical calibration relies on a homogeneous set of scaled-solar evolutionary tracks for intermediate-mass stars and on pulsation predictions concerning the topology of the instability strip. The metal content of the adopted evolutionary tracks ranges from Z=0.001 to Z=0.03 and the intrinsic accuracy of the MIC relations is better than 0.1 dex., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures; to appear in Mem. Soc. Astr. Italiana, Vol. 79/2 (proceeding Cefalu' Workshop "XXI Century Challenges for Stellar Evolution", ed. S. Cassisi & M. Salaris)

We present an updated and homogeneous pulsational scenario for a wide range of stellar parameters typical of BL Her stars i.e., Population II Cepheids with periods shorter than 8 days., Comment: 3 pages, 2 greyscale figures. Proceedings of the workshop "XXI Century challenges for stellar evolution", held in Cefalu' (Sicily, Italy), August 29 - September 2, 2007; S. Cassisi and M. Salaris Eds. To be published in Mem. SAIt Vol. 79 No. 2

We present deep and precise photometry (F435, F625W, F658N) of Omega Cen collected with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We have identified ~ 6,500 white dwarf (WD) candidates, and the ratio of WD and Main Sequence (MS) star counts is found to be at least a factor of two larger than the ratio of CO-core WD cooling and MS lifetimes. This discrepancy is not explained by the possible occurrence of a He-enhanced stellar population, since the MS lifetime changes by only 15% when changing from a canonical (Y=0.25) to a He-enhanced composition (Y=0.42). The presence of some He-core WDs seems able to explain the observed star counts. The fraction of He WDs required ranges from 10% to 80% depending on their mean mass and it is at least five times larger than for field WDs. The comparison in the Color Magnitude Diagram between theory and observations also supports the presence of He WDs. Empirical evidence indicates that He WDs have been detected in stellar systems hosting a large sample of extreme horizontal branch stars, thus suggesting that a fraction of red giants might avoid the He-core flash., Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication to ApJ

We performed a new calibration of the Stroemgren metallicity index m1 based on the b-y color of cluster red giant stars. The current Metallicity-Index-Color relation is not linear in the color range 0.40 < b-y < 1.0, but provides iron abundances of cluster and field red giants with an accuracy of ~ 0.25 dex., Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures; to appear in Mem. Soc. Astr. Italiana, Vol. 79/2 (proceeding Cefalu' Workshop "XXI Century Challenges for Stellar Evolution", ed. S. Cassisi & M. Salaris)

We compare theory and observations for fundamental RR Lyrae in the solar neighborhood and in both Oosterhoff type I (OoI) and type II (OoII) Galactic globular clusters (GGCs). The distribution of cluster RR_ab in the PA_V plane depends not only on the metal abundance, but also on the cluster Horizontal Branch (HB) morphology. On average the observed k_puls parameter, connecting the period to the visual amplitude, increases when moving from metal-poor to metal-rich GGCs. However, this parameter shows marginal changes among OoI clusters with intermediate to red HB types and iron abundances -1.8<= [Fe/H] <=-1.1, whereas its value decreases in OoII clusters with the bluer HB morphology. Moreover, at [Fe/H]=-1.7+-0.1 the OoI clusters present redder HB types and larger values than the OoII clusters. The RR_ab variables in Omega Cen and in the solar neighborhood further support the evidence that the spread in [Fe/H], at fixed k_puls, is of the order of +-0.5 dex. Synthetic HB simulations show that the PA_V plane can provide accurate cluster distance estimates. The RR_ab variables in OoI and in OoII clusters with very blue HB types obey a well-defined M_V(RR)-k_puls relation, while those in OoII clusters with moderately blue HB types present a zero-point that is ~0.05 mag brighter. Regarding field variables, we show that with [Fe/H]=> -1.0 a unique M_V(RR)-k_puls relation can be adopted, independently of the parent HB morphology. Current findings suggest that the PA_V distribution does not seem to be a robust diagnostic for the metal abundance of RR_ab variables. However, the same observables can be used to estimate the absolute magnitude of globular cluster and field RR_ab variables. We show that over the metallicity range -2.4<= [Fe/H] <= 0.0 the M_V(RR)-[Fe/H] relation shows a parabolic behavior., Comment: Paper accepted on A&A, 13 pages, 18 figures

We present a new calibration of the Stroemgren metallicity index m1 using red giant (RG) stars in 4 globular clusters (GCs:M92,M13,NGC1851,47Tuc) with metallicity ranging from [Fe/H]=-2.2 to -0.7, marginally affected by reddening (E(B-V)<0.04) and with accurate u,v,b,y photometry.The main difference between the new metallicity-index-color (MIC) relations and similar relations available in the literature is that we adopted the u-y/v-y colors instead of the b-y.These colors present a stronger sensitivity to effective temperature, and the MIC relations show a linear slope. The difference between photometric estimates and spectroscopic measurements for RGs in M71,NGC288,NGC362,NGC6397, and NGC6752 is 0.04+/-0.03dex (sigma=0.11dex). We also apply the MIC relations to 85 field RGs with metallicity raning from [Fe/H]=-2.4 to -0.5 and accurate reddening estimates. We find that the difference between photometric estimates and spectroscopic measurements is-0.14+/-0.01dex (sig=0.17dex). We also provide two sets of MIC relations based on evolutionary models that have been transformed into the observational plane by adopting either semi-empirical or theoretical color-temperature relations. We apply the semi-empirical relations to the 9 GCs and find that the difference between photometric and spectroscopic metallicities is 0.04+/-0.03dex (sig=0.10dex).A similar agreement is found for the sample of field RGs, with a difference of -0.09+/-0.03dex (sig=0.19dex).The difference between metallicity estimates based on theoretical relations and spectroscopic measurements is -0.11+/-0.03dex (sig=0.14dex) for the 9 GGCs and -0.24+/-0.03dex (sig=0.15dex) for the field RGs. Current evidence indicates that new MIC relations provide metallicities with an intrinsic accuracy better than 0.2dex., Comment: 51 pages, 19 figures, accepted for submission to ApJ

In spite of the relevance of Classical Cepheids as primary distance indicators, a general consensus on the dependence of the Period-Luminosity (PL) relation on the Cepheid chemical composition has not been achieved yet. From the theoretical point of view, our previous investigations were able to reproduce some empirical tests for suitable assumptions on the helium to metal relative enrichment, but those results relied on specific assumptions concerning the Mass-Luminosity relation and the efficiency of the convective transfer in the pulsating envelopes. In this paper, we investigate the effects of the assumed value of the mixing length parameter l/Hp on the pulsation properties and we release the assumption of a fixed Mass-Luminosity relation. As a whole, we show that our pulsation relations appear fully consistent with the observed properties of Galactic and Magellanic Cloud Cepheids, supporting the predicted steepening and brightening of the PL relations when moving from metal-rich to metal-poor variables. Moreover, we show that the distances inferred by the predicted PW relations agree with recently measured trigonometric parallaxes, whereas they suggest a correction to the values based on the Infrared Surface Brightness technique, as already found from an independent method. Finally, also the pulsation metal contents suggested by the predicted PW relations appear in statistical agreement with spectroscopic [Fe/H] measurements., Comment: 20 pages, 15 figures

We investigate the properties of the so-called BL Her stars, i.e., Population II Cepheids with periods shorter than 8 days, using updated pulsation models and evolutionary tracks computed adopting a metal abundance in the range of Z=0.0001 to Z=0.004. We derive the predicted Period-Magnitude (PM) and Period-Wesenheit (PW) relations at the various photometric bands and we show that the slopes of these relations are in good agreement with the slopes determined by observed variables in Galactic globular clusters, independently of the adopted M_V(RR)-[Fe/H] relation to get the cluster RR Lyrae-based distance. Moreover, we show that also the distances provided by the predicted PM and PW relations for BL Her stars agree within the errors with the RR Lyrae based values. The use of the predicted relations with W Vir stars, which are Population II Cepheids with periods longer than 8 days, provides no clear evidence for or against a change in the PM and PW slopes around P~10 days., Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, 6 tables, accepted for publication in A&A on date 16/05/2007

We present new grids of evolutionary models for the so-colled ``Anomalous'' Cepheids (ACs), adopting Z=0.0001 and various assumptions on the progenitor mass and mass-loss efficiency. These computations are combined with the results of our previous set of pulsation models and used to build synthetic populations of the predicted pulsators as well as to provide a Mass-Luminosity relation in the absence of mass-loss. We investigate the effect of mass-loss on the predicted boundaries of the instability strip and we find that the only significant dependence occurs in the Period-Magnitude plane, where the synthetic distribution of the pulsators is, on average, brighter by about 0.1 mag than the one in absence of mass-loss. Tight Period-Magnitude relations are derived in the K band for both fundamental and first overtone pulsators, providing a useful tool for distance evaluations with an intrinsic uncertainty of about 0.15 mag, which decreases to about 0.04 mag if the mass term is taken into account. The constraints provided by the evolutionary models are used to derive evolutionary (i.e, mass-independent) Period-Magnitude-Color relations which provide distance determinations with a formal uncertainty of the order of about 0.1 mag, once the intrinsic colors are well known. We also use model computations from the literature to investigate the effect of metal content both on the instability strip and on the evolutionary Period-Magnitude-Color relations. Finally, we compare our theoretical predictions with observed variables and we confirm that a secure identification of actual ACs requires the simultaneous information on period, magnitude and color, that also provide constraints on the pulsation mode., Comment: accepted

We present new Near-Infrared (J,K) magnitudes for 114 RR Lyrae stars in the globular cluster Omega Cen (NGC 5139) which we combine with data from the literature to construct a sample of 180 RR Lyrae stars with J and K mean magnitudes on a common photometric system. This is presently the largest such sample in any stellar system. We also present updated predictions for J,K-band Period-Luminosity relations for both fundamental and first-overtone RR Lyrae stars, based on synthetic horizontal branch models with metal abundance ranging from Z=0.0001 to Z=0.004. By adopting for the Omega Cen variables with measured metal abundances an alpha-element enhancement of a factor of 3 (about 0.5 dex) with respect to iron we find a true distance modulus of 13.70 (with a random error of 0.06 and a systematic error of 0.06), corresponding to a distance d=5.5 Kpc (with both random and systematic errors equal to 0.03 Kpc). Our estimate is in excellent agreement with the distance inferred for the eclipsing binary OGLEGC-17, but differ significantly from the recent distance estimates based on cluster dynamics and on high amplitude Delta Scuti stars., Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication on The Astrophysical Journal

We present new observational results on the RR Lyrae K-band Period-Luminosity relation (PLK). Data on the Galactic globular clusters NGC 3201 and NGC 4590 (M68), and on the Large Magellanic Cloud cluster Reticulum are shown. We compare the observed slopes of the PLK relations for these three clusters with those predicted by pulsational and evolutionary models, finding a fair agreement. Trusting on this finding we decided to adopt these theoretical calibrations to estimate the distance to the target clusters,finding a good agreement with optical-based RR Lyrae distances, but with a smaller formal scatter., Comment: Proceedings of the Stellar Pulsation and Evolution meeting, Rome, June 2005

We test whether the peak absolute magnitude Mv(TO) of the Globular Cluster Luminosity Function (GCLF) can be used for reliable extragalactic distance determinations. Starting with the luminosity function of the Galactic Globular Clusters listed in Harris catalog, we determine Mv(TO) either using current calibrations of the absolute magnitude Mv(RR) of RR Lyrae stars as a function of the cluster metal content [Fe/H] and adopting selected cluster samples. We show that the peak magnitude is slightly affected by the adopted Mv(RR)-[Fe/H] relation, while it depends on the criteria to select the cluster sample. As for the GCLFs in other external galaxies, using Surface Brightness Fluctuations (SBF) measurements we give evidence that the luminosity functions of the blue (metal-poor) Globular Clusters peak at the same luminosity within ~0.2 mag, whereas for the red (metal-rich) samples the agreement is within ~0.5 mag even accounting for the theoretical metallicity correction expected for clusters with similar ages and mass distributions. Then, using the SBF absolute magnitudes provided by a Cepheid distance scale calibrated on a fiducial distance to LMC (m(LMC)=18.50 mag), we show that the Mv(TO) value of the metal-poor clusters in external galaxies(-7.67+/-0.23 mag) is in excellent agreement with the value of both Galactic (-7.66+/-0.11 mag) and M31 (-7.65+/-0.19 mag)ones., Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, 8 tables, accepted for publication on MNRAS