LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD DISTANCE AND STRUCTURE FROM NEAR-INFRARED RED CLUMP OBSERVATIONS

We have applied the Infrared Survey Facility Magellanic Clouds Point-Source Catalog to the mapping of the red clump (RC) distance modulus across the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Using the J- (1.25 μm) and H- (1.63 μm) band data to derive a reddening free luminosity function and a theoretical RC absolute magnitude from stellar evolution libraries, we estimate a distance modulus to the LMC of μ = 18.54 ± 0.06. The best fitting plane inclination, i, and the position angle of the line of nodes, φ, have little dependence on the assumed RC absolute magnitude; we find i = 23.05 ± 0.04 and φ = 154.06 ± 1.02. It was also noted that many fields included a significant asymptotic giant branch bump population that must be accounted for.