| Abstract | We present results from a well-studied δ Scuti star discovered in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The absolute magnitude of the variable was determined from the period-luminosity (P-L) relation for Galactic δ Scuti stars and from theoretical modeling of the observed B,V,I light curves with nonlinear pulsation models. The two methods give distance moduli for the LMC of 18.46+/-0.19 and 18.48+/-0.15, respectively, for a consistent value of the stellar reddening of E(B-V)=0.08+/-0.02. We have also analyzed 24 δ Scuti candidates discovered in the OGLE II survey of the LMC, and seven variables identified in the open cluster LW 55 and in the galaxy disk by Kaluzny and coworkers . We find that the LMC δ Scuti stars define a P-L relation whose slope is very similar to that defined by the Galactic δ Scuti variables, and yield a distance modulus for the LMC of 18.50+/-0.22 mag. We compare the results obtained from the δ Scuti variables with those derived from the LMC RR Lyrae stars and Cepheids. The corresponding distance moduli are as follows: δ Scuti stars, 18.48+/-0.02 mag (standard deviation of the weighted average of the three above solutions); RR Lyrae stars, 18.49+/-0.06 mag; and Cepheids, 18.53+/-0.02 mag. We have assumed an average color excess of E(B-V)=0.08+/-0.02 mag for both δ Scuti stars and Cepheids. Within the observational uncertainties, the three groups of pulsating stars yield very similar distance moduli. These moduli are all consistent with the ``long'' astronomical distance scale for the Large Magellanic Cloud. Based on data collected at the European Southern Observatory, proposal numbers 62.N-0802 and 66.A-0485. |
