Calibrating the Tip of the Red Giant Branch and measuring Magellanic Cloud distances to 2% exclusively with Gaia

Abstract

We have calibrated the Tip of the Red Giant Branch (TRGB) using our recent catalog of homogeneous, high-accuracy Globular Cluster (GC) distances. The GC distances were determined by a global joint fit to optical period-Wesenheit relations of their member RR Lyrae stars and type-II Cepheids, anchored by trigonometric parallaxes; all data taken from the ESA Gaia mission's (early) third data release (GDR3). Using I-band measurements in 48 GCs from P. Stetson's database, we determined $M_{I,0} = -3.948^{+0.037}_{-0.034}$ mag (1.6% in distance). Calibrating the TRGB using Gaia's homogeneous, space-based RP photometry of 53 GCs, we found $M_{RP,0} = -3.807^{+0.041}_{-0.035}$ mag (1.8%). The stated uncertainties include statistical and systematic effects, including the correlated nature of the GC distances. The robustness of our calibrations is demonstrated via tests against small-number statistics and analysis choices. Specifically, we found no significant metallicity effect for our sample of old, low-metallicity GCs. We measured $\sim 2\%$ distances to the Large (LMC) and Small Magellanic Clouds (SMC), $18.447^{+0.036}_{-0.042}$ mag ($48.9 \pm 0.9$ kpc) and $18.898^{+0.049}_{-0.054}$ mag ($60.2 \pm 1.4$ kpc), respectively, using a single well calibrated photometric system: RP (spectro-)photometry from GDR3. Our new TRGB distances, whose absolute scale derives from Gaia parallaxes, are fully independent of the well-known detached eclipsing binary (DEB) distances and agree with them to within the uncertainties. Combining our new TRGB and existing DEB distances, we illustrate how additional constraints may be incorporated in the Local Distance Network and obtain $H_0 = 73.52 \pm 0.80$ km/s/Mpc. Expected improvements due to the upcoming fourth Gaia data release are discussed.