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arXiv · 2003.05459

Beyond Gaia: Asteroseismic Distances of M giants using Ground-Based Transient Surveys

Connor Auge·Daniel Huber·Aren Heinze·B. J. Shappee·John Tonry·Sukanya Chakrabarti·Robyn E. Sanderson·Larry Denneau·Heather Flewelling·Thomas W. -S. Holoien·C. S. Kochanek·Giuliano Pignata·Amanda Sickafoose·Brian Stalder·K. Z. Stanek·Dennis Stello·Todd A. Thompson
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Abstract

Evolved stars near the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) show solar-like oscillations with periods spanning hours to months and amplitudes ranging from $\sim$1 mmag to $\sim$100 mmag. The systematic detection of the resulting photometric variations with ground-based telescopes would enable the application of asteroseismology to a much larger and more distant sample of stars than is currently accessible with space-based telescopes such as \textit{Kepler} or the ongoing Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (\textit{TESS}) mission. We present an asteroseismic analysis of 493 M giants using data from two ground-based surveys: the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) and the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN). By comparing the extracted frequencies with constraints from \textit{Kepler}, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Apache Point Observatory Galaxy Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), and Gaia we demonstrate that ground-based transient surveys allow accurate distance measurements to oscillating M giants with a precision of $\sim$15$\%$. Using stellar population synthesis models we predict that ATLAS and ASAS-SN can provide asteroseismic distances to $\sim$2$\times$10$^{6}$ galactic M giants out to typical distances of $20-50 \; \rm{kpc}$, vastly improving the reach of Gaia and providing critical constraints for Galactic archaeology and galactic dynamics.

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Connor Auge, Daniel Huber, Aren Heinze, B. J. Shappee, John Tonry, Sukanya Chakrabarti, Robyn E. Sanderson, Larry Denneau, Heather Flewelling, Thomas W. -S. Holoien, C. S. Kochanek, Giuliano Pignata, Amanda Sickafoose, Brian Stalder, K. Z. Stanek, Dennis Stello, Todd A. Thompson. 2020-03-11. Beyond Gaia: Asteroseismic Distances of M giants using Ground-Based Transient Surveys. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ab91bf

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