Spectroscopy and photometry of elliptical galaxies. 1. A New distance estimator

Dressler, Alan; Lynden-Bell, Donald; Burstein, David; Davies, Roger L.; Faber, S.M.; Terlevich, Roberto; Wegner, Gary

doi:10.1086/164947

Spectroscopy and photometry of elliptical galaxies. 1. A New distance estimator

Alan Dressler
(
- Carnegie Inst. Observ. and
- Cambridge U. and
- Arizona State U. and
- Kitt Peak Observ. and
- Lick Observ.
)
,
Donald Lynden-Bell
(
- Carnegie Inst. Observ. and
- Cambridge U. and
- Arizona State U. and
- Kitt Peak Observ. and
- Lick Observ.
)
,
David Burstein
(
- Carnegie Inst. Observ. and
- Cambridge U. and
- Arizona State U. and
- Kitt Peak Observ. and
- Lick Observ.
)
,
Roger L. Davies
(
- Carnegie Inst. Observ. and
- Cambridge U. and
- Arizona State U. and
- Kitt Peak Observ. and
- Lick Observ.
)
,
S.M. Faber
(
- Carnegie Inst. Observ. and
- Cambridge U. and
- Arizona State U. and
- Kitt Peak Observ. and
- Lick Observ.
)

1987

16 pages

Published in:

Astrophys.J. 313 (1987) 42-58

DOI:

10.1086/164947

View in:

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Abstract: (ADS)

Kinematic and photometric data have been obtained for 97 elliptical galaxies in six rich clusters. These data show that ellipticals describe a plane in three dimensions which, when viewed edge-on, projects a smaller scatter than the Faber-Jackson relationship between luminosity and velocity dispersion sigma. This plane is approximately given by L ∝ sigma8/3Sigmae-3/5, where Sigmae is the surface brightness within the effective radius Ae. The authors present a new photometric parameter Dn, the diameter which encloses an integrated surface brightness Sigma, that correlates as well with sigma as any linear combination of L and Sigma. It is shown that the Dn-sigma relation can be used to find relative distances of ellipticals with rms errors of ⪅25% for a single galaxy and ⪅10% for rich clusters. A poorer correlation between the line strength indicator Mg2 and Dn provides an independent, though less accurate, distance indicator. The new sigma and Mg2 distance estimators are used to determine an infall of the Local Group toward the Virgo Cluster. Associated Articles Part 1 Part 4 Part 2 Part 3 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

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