We present a reanalysis of the light curves of HD 23642 , a detached eclipsing binary star in the Pleiades open cluster , with emphasis on a detailed error analysis .
We compare the masses and radii of the two stars to predictions of stellar evolutionary models and find that the metal and helium abundances of the Pleiades are approximately solar .
We present a new method for finding distances to eclipsing binaries , of spectral types A to M , using the empirical calibrations of effective temperature versus surface brightness given by Kervella et al .
( [ 2004 ] ) .
We use the calibration for K -filter surface brightness to determine a distance of 139.1 \pm 3.5 pc to HD 23642 and the Pleiades .
This distance is in excellent agreement with distances found from the use of theoretical and empirical bolometric corrections .
We show that the determination of distance , both from the use of surface brightness relations and from the use of bolometric corrections , is more accurate and precise at infrared wavelengths than at optical wavelengths .
The distance to HD 23642 is consistent with that derived from photometric methods and Hubble Space Telecscope parallaxes , but is inconsistent with the distance measured using Hipparcos parallaxes of HD 23642 and of other Pleiades stars .