LONG-PERIOD CEPHEIDS: MODELS AND OBSERVATIONS

Authors

Norman R. Simon, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Shashi M. Kanbur, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

10-1-1995

Document Type

Article

Citation

THE ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL, 451 : 703-710, 1995 October 1.

Comments

Copyright 1995 The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Abstract

We compile a list of 50 long-period Cepheids (12^d < P < 70^d) with light curves suitable for Fourier decomposition. For P > 20^d, the plots versus period of the Fourier quantities ϕ₂₁, ϕ₃₁, ϕ₄₁, and R₂₁ all show a slow rise, with considerable scatter. Hydrodynamic calculations are performed to model the observed stars. The theoretical light curves are converted from bolometric to visual, and the Fourier coefficients compared with the observed ones. While the theoretical values follow the observed trends in a crude, general sense, differences are noted. At the lower end of the period range the models depart systematically from the observed stars. At longer period, the differences are much less striking, perhaps being obscured by scatter in the observations. We conclude that a detailed comparison between theory and observation must await a more extensive and accurate sample of observed stars.