The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey XVI. The optical+NIR extinction laws in
30 Doradus and the photometric determination of the effective temperatures of
OB stars
Context: The commonly used extinction laws of Cardelli et al. (1989) have
limitations that, among other issues, hamper the determination of the effective
temperatures of O and early B stars from optical+NIR photometry. Aims: We aim
to develop a new family of extinction laws for 30 Doradus, check their general
applicability within that region and elsewhere, and apply them to test the
feasibility of using optical+NIR photometry to determine the effective
temperature of OB stars. Methods: We use spectroscopy and NIR photometry from
the VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey and optical photometry from HST/WFC3 of 30
Doradus and we analyze them with the software code CHORIZOS using different
assumptions such as the family of extinction laws. Results: We derive a new
family of optical+NIR extinction laws for 30 Doradus and confirm its
applicability to extinguished Galactic O-type systems. We conclude that by
using the new extinction laws it is possible to measure the effective
temperatures of OB stars with moderate uncertainties and only a small bias, at
least up to E(4405-5495) ~ 1.5 mag.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. Revised version corrects language
and fixes typos (one of them caught by David Nicholls). Figure 4 has poor
quality due to the size restrictions imposed by arXi