We undertook a long term project, DIRECT, to obtain the direct distances to two important galaxies in the cosmological distance ladder – M31 and M33, using detached eclipsing binaries (DEBs) and Cepheids. While rare and difficult to detect, detached eclipsing binaries provide us with the potential to determine these distances with an accuracy better than 5%. The massive photometry obtained in o...

We present new spectroscopic observations of 13 H II regions in the Local Group spiral galaxy M33. The regions observed range from 1 to 7 kpc in distance from the nucleus. Of the 13 H II regions observed, the [O III] λ4363 line was detected in six regions. Visiting Astronomer, Kitt Peak National Observatory, National Optical Astronomy Observatories, which is operated by the Association of Unive...

New observations of CO (J = 1 → 0) line emission from M33, using the 25 element BEARS focal plane array at the Nobeyama Radio Observatory 45-m telescope, in conjunction with existing maps from the BIMA interferometer and the FCRAO 14-m telescope, give the highest resolution (13) and most sensitive (σrms ∼ 60 mK) maps to date of the distribution of molecular gas in the central 5.5 kpc of the gal...

We observed the nucleus of M33, the third-brightest galaxy in the Local Group, with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph at a resolution at least a factor of 10 higher than previously obtained. Rather than the steep rise expected within the radius of gravitational influence of a supermassive black hole, the random stellar velocities showed a decrease within a parsec of the center of the gal...

We have conducted observations of the 12CO(J=1–0) and 12CO(J = 3–2) line emission of 74 major giant molecular clouds (GMCs) within the galactocentric distance of 5.1 kpc in the Local Group galaxy M33 [1]. The observations are part of the Nobeyama Radio Observatory M33 All-disk survey of Giant Molecular Clouds project (NRO MAGiC [2]). The spatial resolution is 100 pc. We detect 12CO(J = 3–2) emi...

We have thoroughly characterized the ultraviolet to near-infrared (0.15 2.2 μm) spectral energy distribution (SED) of the central parsec of the M33 nucleus through new infrared photometry and optical/near-infrared spectroscopy, combined with ultraviolet/optical observations from the literature and the HST archive. The SED shows evidence for a significant level of attenuation, which we model thr...