78 research outputs found
Trends in U.S. Public Awareness of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (1999-2010): Study Brief
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A Database of Cepheid Distance Moduli and TRGB, GCLF, PNLF and SBF Data Useful for Distance Determinations
We present a compilation of Cepheid distance moduli and data for four
secondary distance indicators that employ stars in the old stellar populations:
the planetary nebula luminosity function (PNLF), the globular cluster
luminosity function (GCLF), the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB), and the
surface brightness fluctuation (SBF) method. The database includes all data
published as of July 15, 1999. The main strength of this compilation resides in
all data being on a consistent and homogeneous system: all Cepheid distances
are derived using the same calibration of the period-luminosity relation, the
treatment of errors is consistent for all indicators, measurements which are
not considered reliable are excluded. As such, the database is ideal for
inter-comparing any of the distance indicators considered, or for deriving a
Cepheid calibration to any secondary distance indicator. Specifically, the
database includes: 1) Cepheid distances, extinctions and metallicities; 2)
apparent magnitudes of the PNLF cutoff; 3) apparent magnitudes and colors of
the turnover of the GCLF (both in the V- and B-bands); 4) apparent magnitudes
of the TRGB (in the I-band) and V-I colors at and 0.5 magnitudes fainter than
the TRGB; 5) apparent surface brightness fluctuation magnitudes I, K', K_short,
and using the F814W filter with the HST/WFPC2. In addition, for every galaxy in
the database we give reddening estimates from DIRBE/IRAS as well as HI maps,
J2000 coordinates, Hubble and T-type morphological classification, apparent
total magnitude in B, and systemic velocity. (Abridged)Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement
Series. Because of space limitations, the figures included are low resolution
bitmap images. Original figures can be found at
http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~laura/pub.ht
The HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale XXVI. The Calibration of Population II Secondary Distance Indicators and the Value of the Hubble Constant
A Cepheid-based calibration is derived for four distance indicators that
utilize stars in the old stellar populations: the tip of the red giant branch
(TRGB), the planetary nebula luminosity function (PNLF), the globular cluster
luminosity function (GCLF) and the surface brightness fluctuation method (SBF).
The calibration is largely based on the Cepheid distances to 18 spiral galaxies
within cz =1500 km/s obtained as part of the HST Key Project on the
Extragalactic Distance Scale, but relies also on Cepheid distances from
separate HST and ground-based efforts. The newly derived calibration of the SBF
method is applied to obtain distances to four Abell clusters in the velocity
range between 3800 and 5000 km/s, observed by Lauer et al. (1998) using the
HST/WFPC2. Combined with cluster velocities corrected for a cosmological flow
model, these distances imply a value of the Hubble constant of H0 = 69 +/- 4
(random) +/- 6 (systematic) km/s/Mpc. This result assumes that the Cepheid PL
relation is independent of the metallicity of the variable stars; adopting a
metallicity correction as in Kennicutt et al. (1998), would produce a (5 +/-
3)% decrease in H0. Finally, the newly derived calibration allows us to
investigate systematics in the Cepheid, PNLF, SBF, GCLF and TRGB distance
scales.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. 48 pages
(including 13 figures and 4 tables), plus two additional tables in landscape
format. Also available at http://astro.caltech.edu/~lff/pub.htm K' SBF
magnitudes have been update
The HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale. XV. A Cepheid Distance to the Fornax Cluster and Its Implications
Using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) 37 long-period Cepheid variables have
been discovered in the Fornax Cluster spiral galaxy NGC 1365. The resulting V
and I period-luminosity relations yield a true distance modulus of 31.35 +/-
0.07 mag, which corresponds to a distance of 18.6 +/- 0.6 Mpc. This measurement
provides several routes for estimating the Hubble Constant. (1) Assuming this
distance for the Fornax Cluster as a whole yields a local Hubble Constant of 70
+/-18_{random} [+/-7]_{systematic} km/s/Mpc. (2) Nine Cepheid-based distances
to groups of galaxies out to and including the Fornax and Virgo clusters yield
Ho = 73 (+/-16)_r [+/-7]_s km/s/Mpc. (3) Recalibrating the I-band Tully-Fisher
relation using NGC 1365 and six nearby spiral galaxies, and applying it to 15
galaxy clusters out to 100 Mpc gives Ho = 76 (+/-3)_r [+/-8]_s km/s/Mpc. (4)
Using a broad-based set of differential cluster distance moduli ranging from
Fornax to Abell 2147 gives Ho = 72 (+/-)_r [+/-6]_s km/s/Mpc. And finally, (5)
Assuming the NGC 1365 distance for the two additional Type Ia supernovae in
Fornax and adding them to the SnIa calibration (correcting for light curve
shape) gives Ho = 67 (+/-6)_r [+/-7]_s km/s/Mpc out to a distance in excess of
500 Mpc. All five of these Ho determinations agree to within their statistical
errors. The resulting estimate of the Hubble Constant combining all these
determinations is Ho = 72 (+/-5)_r [+/-12]_s km/s/Mpc.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, Apr. 10 issue
28 pages, 3 tables, 12 figures (Correct figures and abstract
The Hubble Space Telescope Extragalactic Distance Scale Key Project XXIII. The Discovery of Cepheids In NGC 3319
The distance to NGC 3319 has been determined from Cepheid variable stars as
part of the Hubble Space Telescope Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance
Scale. Thirteen and four epochs of observations, using filters F555W (V) and
F814W (I) respectively, were made with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2.
Thirty-three Cepheid variables between periods of 8 and 47 days were
discovered. Adopting a Large Magellanic Cloud distance modulus of 18.50 +- 0.10
mag and extinction of E(V-I)=0.13 mag, a true reddening-corrected distance
modulus (based on an analysis employing the ALLFRAME software package) of 30.78
+- 0.14 (random) +- 0.10 (systematic) mag and the extinction of E(V-I) = 0.06
mag were determined for NGC 3319. This galaxy is the last galaxy observed for
the HST H0 Key Project.Comment: 22 pages. A gzipped tar file containing 16 figures can be obtained
from http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/H0kp/n3319/n3319.htm
The Hubble Space Telescope Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale XXIV: The Calibration of Tully-Fisher Relations and the Value of the Hubble Constant
This paper presents the calibration of BVRIH$ Tully-Fisher relations based on
Cepheid distances to 21 galaxies within 25 Mpc, and 23 clusters within 10,000
km/s. These relations have been applied to several distant cluster surveys in
order to derive a value for the Hubble constant, H0, mainly concentrating on an
I-band all-sky survey by Giovanelli and collaborators which consisted of total
I magnitudes and 50% linewidth data for ~550 galaxies in 16 clusters. For
comparison, we also derive the values of H0 using surveys in B-band and V-band
by Bothun and collaborators, and in H-band by Aaronson and collaborators.
Careful comparisons with various other databases from literature suggest that
the H-band data, whose magnitudes are isophotal magnitudes extrapolated from
aperture magnitudes rather than total magnitudes, are subject to systematic
uncertainties. Taking a weighted average of the estimates of Hubble constants
from four surveys, we obtain H0 = 71 +- 4 (random) +- 7 (systematic) km/s/Mpc.
We have also investigated how various systematic uncertainties affect the value
of H0 such as the internal extinction correction method used, Tully-Fisher
slopes and shapes, a possible metallicity dependence of the Cepheid
period-luminosity relation and cluster population incompleteness bias.Comment: 34 pages, 13 figure
The Extragalactic Distance Scale Key Project XXVII. A Derivation of the Hubble Constant Using the Fundamental Plane and Dn-Sigma Relations in Leo I, Virgo, and Fornax
Using published photometry and spectroscopy, we construct the fundamental
plane and D_n-Sigma relations in Leo I, Virgo and Fornax. The published Cepheid
P-L relations to spirals in these clusters fixes the relation between angular
size and metric distance for both the fundamental plane and D_n-Sigma
relations. Using the locally calibrated fundamental plane, we infer distances
to a sample of clusters with a mean redshift of cz \approx 6000 \kms, and
derive a value of H_0=78+- 5+- 9 km/s/Mpc (random, systematic) for the local
expansion rate. This value includes a correction for depth effects in the
Cepheid distances to the nearby clusters, which decreased the deduced value of
the expansion rate by 5% +- 5%. If one further adopts the metallicity
correction to the Cepheid PL relation, as derived by the Key Project, the value
of the Hubble constant would decrease by a further 6%+- 4%. These two sources
of systematic error, when combined with a +- 6% error due to the uncertainty in
the distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud, a +- 4% error due to uncertainties
in the WFPC2 calibration, and several small sources of uncertainty in the
fundamental plane analysis, combine to yield a total systematic uncertainty of
+- 11%. We find that the values obtained using either the CMB, or a flow-field
model, for the reference frame of the distant clusters, agree to within 1%. The
Dn-Sigma relation also produces similar results, as expected from the
correlated nature of the two scaling relations. A complete discussion of the
sources of random and systematic error in this determination of the Hubble
constant is also given, in order to facilitate comparison with the other
secondary indicators being used by the Key Project.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap
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