A Very Long Baseline Array Trigonometric Parallax for RR Aql and the Mira Period–Luminosity Relation

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We report Very Long Baseline Array observations of 22 GHz H 2 O and 43 GHz SiO masers toward the Mira variable RR Aql. By fitting the SiO maser emission to a circular ring, we estimate the absolute stellar position of RR Aql and find agreement with Gaia astrometry to within the joint uncertainty of ≈1 mas. Using the maser astrometry we measure a stellar parallax of 2.44 ± 0.07 mas, corresponding to a distance of 410 − 11 + 12 pc. The maser parallax deviates significantly from the Gaia EDR3 parallax of 1.95 ± 0.11 mas, indicating a 3.8 σ tension between radio and optical measurements. This tension is most likely caused by optical photocenter variations limiting the Gaia astrometric accuracy for this Mira variable. Combining infrared magnitudes with parallaxes for RR Aql and other Miras, we fit a period–luminosity relation using a Bayesian approach with Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling and a strong prior for the slope of −3.60 ± 0.30 from the Large Magellanic Cloud. We find a K -band zero-point (defined at logP(days) = 2.30) of −6.79 ± 0.15 mag using very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) parallaxes and −7.08 ± 0.29 mag using Gaia parallaxes. The Gaia zero-point is statistically consistent with the more accurate VLBI value.