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Session 12 - Cosmology, Large-Scale Structure and Distance Scales.
Display session, Monday, June 10
We present preliminary results from our program to measure infrared surface brightness fluctuations (SBFs) of elliptical galaxies using the 10-meter Keck Telescope. Unlike most cosmological distance indicators, SBF measurements are appealing because of their well-understood physical basis. As SBFs in ellipticals are dominated by late-type stars, IR measurements offer the potential to measure distances 2--3 times as far as previous optical SBF work. We have successfully detected K-band (2.2 \mum) SBFs of Coma cluster ellipticals (cz \approx 7000 km/s), the most distant SBF measurements to date. Combined with our ongoing effort at the Lick 3-meter telescope to calibrate the SBF zero point, distance measurements out to 100 h^-1 Mpc and, consequently, a determination of the Hubble Constant uncontaminated by local peculiar velocities seem within reach.
Program listing for Monday