The extragalactic distance scale. II - The unbiased distance to the Virgo Cluster from the B-band Tully-Fisher relation

AbstractIn the era of precision cosmology, the Virgo cluster takes on a new role in the cosmic distance scale. Its traditional role of testing the consistency of secondary distance indicators is replaced by an ensemble of distance measurements within the Local Supercluster, united by a velocity-field model obtained from a reconstruction based on redshift surveys. The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) leads us to see the Hubble constant as one of six parameters in a standard model of cosmology with considerable covariance among parameters. Independent experiments, such as WMAP, the Hubble Space Telescope Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale, and their successors constrain these parameters.

Download Full-text

Variable Stars and the Cosmic Distance Scale

International Astronomical Union Colloquium ◽

10.1017/s0252921100011507 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 111 ◽

pp. 169-176

Author(s):

Jeremy Mould

Keyword(s):

Hubble Space Telescope ◽

Hubble Constant ◽

Variable Stars ◽

Virgo Cluster ◽

Distance Scale ◽

Stellar Structure ◽

Space Telescope ◽

Pulsating Variable Stars ◽

Extragalactic Distance Scale ◽

Detector Technology

For three quarters of a century pulsating variable stars have lain at the foundation of the extragalactic distance scale. The construction of larger telescopes, advances in detector technology, hard work by observers, and our understanding of stellar structure have all contributed to the expansion of the realm of the Cepheids to the distance of M101. Now, with the advent of Hubble Space Telescope (HST), we can look forward to the detection of Cepheids in the Virgo cluster and the removal of much of the remaining uncertainty in the Hubble constant.

Download Full-text

Cepheid and Long – Period Variables in Virgo Cluster Galaxies

International Astronomical Union Colloquium ◽

10.1017/s0252921100116938 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 139 ◽

pp. 81-89

Author(s):

M.J. Pierce ◽

R.D. McClure ◽

D.L. Welch ◽

R. Racine ◽

S. van den Bergh

Keyword(s):

High Resolution ◽

Hubble Constant ◽

Variable Stars ◽

Virgo Cluster ◽

Distance Scale ◽

Cluster Galaxies ◽

Cluster Distance ◽

Resolution Imaging ◽

Extragalactic Distance Scale

AbstractWe are currently undertaking a ground-based imaging survey which attempts to discover and determine periods for variable stars in Virgo Cluster galaxies. Such a survey is now feasible thanks to the high resolution imaging (FWHM ≤ 0.50 arcsec) routinely obtained with the High Resolution Camera on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. The Virgo Cluster has long been considered a crucial “stepping-stone” in the extragalactic distance scale problem given that the cluster is at a “cosmologically interesting” distance and that there is little controversy in the relative distance between Virgo and more distant clusters, such as Coma. Consequently, much of the controversy regarding the extragalactic distance scale and the Hubble Constant can be eliminated with a determination of the Virgo Cluster distance. Some preliminary results and the prospects for establishing the distance to the Virgo Cluster using Cepheids and LPVs are discussed.

Download Full-text

TheHubble Space TelescopeKey Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale. XX. The Discovery of Cepheids in the Virgo Cluster Galaxy NGC 4548

The Astrophysical Journal ◽

10.1086/307151 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 516 (2) ◽

pp. 626-646 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

John A. Graham ◽

Laura Ferrarese ◽

Wendy L. Freedman ◽

Robert C. Kennicutt, Jr. ◽

Jeremy R. Mould ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Virgo Cluster ◽

Distance Scale ◽

Cluster Galaxy ◽

Extragalactic Distance Scale

Download Full-text

Five Crucial Tests of the Extragalactic Distance Scale Using the Galaxy as Fundamental Calibrator

Highlights of Astronomy ◽

10.1017/s153929960000530x ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. 315-317

Author(s):

G. de Vaucouleurs

Keyword(s):

Local Group ◽

Traditional Approach ◽

Virgo Cluster ◽

Distance Scale ◽

Short Scale ◽

The Galaxy ◽

Extragalactic Distance Scale

The traditional approach to the extragalactic distance scale has been through several levels of primary, secondary and tertiary indicators of increasing range and decreasing precision. This piecemeal approach, fraught with the danger of cumulative errors, has led in recent years to two widely divergent scales, the “long” scale of Sandage and Tammann (1974–1982), leading to ≃ 50 km s-1 Mpc-1, and the “short” scale of the author (1978–79), leading to Ho ≃ 100 (de Vaucouleurs and Bollinger 1979; de Vaucouleurs and Peters 1981; de Vaucouleurs et al. 1981). The divergence, increasing from ~ 0.4 mag in the Local Group to ~ 1.2 mag at the distance of the Virgo Cluster, indicates that at least one of the scales is not linear (de Vaucouleurs 1981).

Download Full-text

The Extragalactic Distance Scale Key Project. XVIII. The Discovery of Cepheids and a New Distance to NGC 4535 Using theHubble Space Telescope

The Astrophysical Journal ◽

10.1086/307541 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 521 (1) ◽

pp. 155-178 ◽

Cited By ~ 53

Author(s):

L. M. Macri ◽

J. P. Huchra ◽

P. B. Stetson ◽

N. A. Silbermann ◽

W. L. Freedman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Distance Scale ◽

Space Telescope ◽

Extragalactic Distance Scale

Download Full-text

Recent improvements to the Cepheid distance scale

International Astronomical Union Colloquium ◽

10.1017/s0252921100116914 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 139 ◽

pp. 61-71

Author(s):

Wendy L. Freedman ◽

Barry F. Madore

Keyword(s):

Near Infrared ◽

Hubble Space Telescope ◽

Systematic Difference ◽

Distance Scale ◽

Nearby Galaxy ◽

Rr Lyrae ◽

Cepheid Variables ◽

Level Of Significance ◽

Extragalactic Distance Scale ◽

Better Than

AbstractIn the course of the last decade significant advances have been made in the observations of Cepheid variables and in their successful application to the extragalactic distance scale. Much of this progress has come about as a result of new CCD and near-infrared photometry. These recent improvements are discussed, and a comparison is given of Population I Cepheids and Population II distances. The correspondence is good, with the zero points agreeing at a level of better than 15% in distance. At this same level of significance, a systematic difference between these distances scales may exist, in the sense that the RR Lyrae distances appear to be smaller than the Cepheid distances (if it is assumed, as has generally been done for extragalactic studies of RR Lyraes, that Mv(RR) = 0.77 mag, independent of [Fe/H]). However, several recently-published calibrations of Mv(RR) significantly reduce this discrepancy. Finally, new Cepheid data for the nearby galaxy M81 are presented based on recent Hubble Space Telescope observations.

Download Full-text