219 research outputs found
Photometric Recovery of Crowded Stellar Fields Observed with HST/WFPC2 and the Effects of Confusion Noise on the Extragalactic Distance Scale
We explore the limits of photometric reductions of crowded stellar fields
observed with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 on board the Hubble Space
Telescope. Two photometric procedures, based on the DoPHOT and DAOPHOT/ALLFRAME
programs are tested, and the effects of crowding, complex sky background and
cosmic-ray contamination are discussed using an extensive set of artificial
star simulations. As a specific application of the results presented in this
paper, we assess the magnitude of photometric biases on programs aimed at
finding Cepheids and determining distances. We find that while the photometry
in individual images can be biased too bright by up to 0.2 mag in the most
crowded fields due to confusion noise, the effects on distance measurements
based on Cepheid variables are insignificant, less than 0.02 mag (1% in
distance) even in the most problematic cases. This result, which is at odds
with claims recently surfaced in the literature, is due to the strict criteria
applied in the selection of the variable stars, and the photometric cross
checks made possible by the availability of multiple exposures in different
filters which characterizes Cepheid observations.Comment: Accepted for publication in PASP. 41 pages, 18 figures, 8 tables. The
figures included with this submission are very low quality bitmap postscript,
please see http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~laura/pub.htm for the full size image
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 XXV. A Recalibration of Cepheid Distances to Type Ia Supernovae and the Value of the Hubble Constant
Cepheid-based distances to seven Type Ia supernovae (SNe)-host galaxies have
been derived using the standard HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance
Scale pipeline. For the first time, this allows for a transparent comparison of
data accumulated as part of three different HST projects, the Key Project, the
Sandage et al. Type Ia SNe program, and the Tanvir et al. Leo I Group study.
Re-analyzing the Tanvir et al. galaxy and six Sandage et al. galaxies we find a
mean (weighted) offset in true distance moduli of 0.12+/-0.07 mag -- i.e., 6%
in linear distance -- in the sense of reducing the distance scale, or
increasing H0. Adopting the reddening-corrected Hubble relations of Suntzeff et
al. (1999), tied to a zero point based upon SNe~1990N, 1981B, 1998bu, 1989B,
1972E and 1960F and the photometric calibration of Hill et al. (1998), leads to
a Hubble constant of H0=68+/-2(random)+/-5(systematic) km/s/Mpc. Adopting the
Kennicutt et al. (1998) Cepheid period-luminosity-metallicity dependency
decreases the inferred H0 by 4%. The H0 result from Type Ia SNe is now in good
agreement, to within their respective uncertainties, with that from the
Tully-Fisher and surface brightness fluctuation relations.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal. 62 pages,
LaTeX, 9 Postscript figures. Also available at
http://casa.colorado.edu/~bgibson/publications.htm
The HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale. XXVIII. Combining the Constraints on the Hubble Constant
Since the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope nine years ago, Cepheid
distances to 25 galaxies have been determined for the purpose of calibrating
secondary distance indicators. A variety of these can now be calibrated, and
the accompanying papers by Sakai, Kelson, Ferrarese, and Gibson employ the full
set of 25 galaxies to consider the Tully-Fisher relation, the fundamental plane
of elliptical galaxies, Type Ia supernovae, and surface brightness
fluctuations.
When calibrated with Cepheid distances, each of these methods yields a
measurement of the Hubble constant and a corresponding measurement uncertainty.
We combine these measurements in this paper, together with a model of the
velocity field, to yield the best available estimate of the value of H_0 within
the range of these secondary distance indicators and its uncertainty.
The result is H_0 = 71 +/- 6 km/sec/Mpc. The largest contributor to the
uncertainty of this 67% confidence level result is the distance of the Large
Magellanic Cloud, which has been assumed to be 50 +/- 3 kpc
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
The HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale. XXII. The Discovery of Cepheids in NGC 1326-A
We report on the detection of Cepheids and the first distance measurement to
the spiral galaxy NGC 1326-A, a member of the Fornax cluster of galaxies. We
have employed data obtained with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 on board
the Hubble Space Telescope. Over a 49 day interval, a total of twelve V-band
(F555W) and eight I-band (F814W) epochs of observation were obtained. Two
photometric reduction packages, ALLFRAME and DoPHOT, have been employed to
obtain photometry measures from the three Wide Field CCDs. Variability analysis
yields a total of 17 Cepheids in common with both photometry datasets, with
periods ranging between 10 and 50 days. Of these 14 Cepheids with high-quality
lightcurves are used to fit the V and I period-luminosity relations and derive
apparent distance moduli, assuming a Large Magellanic Cloud distance modulus
(m-M) (LMC) = 18.50 +- 0.10 mag and color excess E(B-V) = 0.10 mag. Assuming
A(V)/E(V-I) = 2.45, the DoPHOT data yield a true distance modulus to NGC 1326-A
of (m-M)_0 = 31.36 +- 0.17 (random) +- 0.13 (systematic) mag, corresponding to
a distance of 18.7 \pm 1.5 (random) \pm 1.2 (systematic) Mpc. The derived
distance to NGC 1326-A is in good agreement with the distance derived
previously to NGC 1365, another spiral galaxy member of the Fornax cluster.
However the distances to both galaxies are significantly lower than to NGC
1425, a third Cepheid calibrator in the outer parts of the cluster.Comment: 33 pages A gzipped tar file containing 12 figures can be obtained
from http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/H0kp/n1326a/n1326a.htm
A dust-parallax distance of 19 megaparsecs to the supermassive black hole in NGC 4151
The active galaxy NGC 4151 has a crucial role as one of only two active
galactic nuclei for which black hole mass measurements based on emission line
reverberation mapping can be calibrated against other dynamical methods.
Unfortunately, effective calibration requires an accurate distance to NGC 4151,
which is currently not available. Recently reported distances range from 4 to
29 megaparsecs (Mpc). Strong peculiar motions make a redshift-based distance
very uncertain, and the geometry of the galaxy and its nucleus prohibit
accurate measurements using other techniques. Here we report a dust-parallax
distance to NGC 4151 of Mpc. The measurement is
based on an adaptation of a geometric method proposed previously using the
emission line regions of active galaxies. Since this region is too small for
current imaging capabilities, we use instead the ratio of the
physical-to-angular sizes of the more extended hot dust emission as determined
from time-delays and infrared interferometry. This new distance leads to an
approximately 1.4-fold increase in the dynamical black hole mass, implying a
corresponding correction to emission line reverberation masses of black holes
if they are calibrated against the two objects with additional dynamical
masses.Comment: Authors' version of a letter published in Nature (27 November 2014);
8 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl
The Hubble Space Telescope Extragalactic Distance Scale Key Project. X. The Cepheid Distance to NGC 7331
The distance to NGC 7331 has been derived from Cepheid variables observed
with HST/WFPC2, as part of the Extragalactic Distance Scale Key Project.
Multi-epoch exposures in F555W (V) and F814W (I), with photometry derived
independently from DoPHOT and DAOPHOT/ALLFRAME programs, were used to detect a
total of 13 reliable Cepheids, with periods between 11 and 42 days. The
relative distance moduli between NGC 7331 and the LMC, imply an extinction to
NGC 7331 of A_V = 0.47+-0.15 mag, and an extinction-corrected distance modulus
to NGC 7331 of 30.89+-0.14(random) mag, equivalent to a distance of 15.1 Mpc.
There are additional systematic uncertainties in the distance modulus of +-0.12
mag due to the calibration of the Cepheid Period-Luminosity relation, and a
systematic offset of +0.05+-0.04 mag if we applied the metallicity correction
inferred from the M101 results of Kennicutt et al 1998.Comment: To be published in The Astrophysical Journal, 1998 July 1, v501 note:
Figs 1 and 2 (JPEG files) and Fig 7 (multipage .eps file) need to be
viewed/printed separatel
The HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale XVII. The Cepheid Distance to NGC 4725
The distance to NGC 4725 has been derived from Cepheid variables, as part of
the Hubble Space Telescope Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale.
Thirteen F555W (V) and four F814W (I) epochs of cosmic-ray-split Wide Field and
Planetary Camera 2 observations were obtained. Twenty Cepheids were discovered,
with periods ranging from 12 to 49 days. Adopting a Large Magellanic Cloud
distance modulus and extinction of 18.50+/-0.10 mag and E(V-I)=0.13 mag,
respectively, a true reddening-corrected distance modulus (based on an analysis
employing the ALLFRAME software package) of 30.50 +/- 0.16 (random) +/- 0.17
(systematic) mag was determined for NGC 4725. The corresponding of distance of
12.6 +/- 1.0 (random) +/- 1.0 (systematic) Mpc is in excellent agreement with
that found with an independent analysis based upon the DoPHOT photometry
package. With a foreground reddening of only E(V-I)=0.02, the inferred
intrinsic reddening of this field in NGC 4725, E(V-I)=0.19, makes it one of the
most highly-reddened, encountered by the HST Key Project, to date.Comment: To be published in The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 512 (1999). 34
pages, LaTeX, 9 jpg figure
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