MEASURING INFRARED SURFACE BRIGHTNESS FLUCTUATION DISTANCES WITH HST WFC3: CALIBRATION AND ADVICE

• Published in: The Astrophysical journal Vol. 808; no. 1; pp. 1 - 18
• Main Authors: Jensen, Joseph B, Blakeslee, John P, Gibson, Zachary, Lee, Hyun-chul, Cantiello, Michele, Raimondo, Gabriella, Boyer, Nathan, Cho, Hyejeon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United Kingdom 20-07-2015
• Subjects: ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; CALIBRATION; Channels; COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS; DISTANCE; Field cameras; Fluctuation; FLUCTUATIONS; GALAXIES; GALAXY CLUSTERS; Infrared; LUMINOSITY; METALLICITY; Population (statistical); POPULATIONS; RED SHIFT; SPACE; Surface brightness; TELESCOPES
• ISSN: 1538-4357; 0004-637X; 1538-4357
• DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/808/1/91

We present new calibrations of the near-infrared (near-IR) surface brightness fluctuation (SBF) distance method for the F110W (J sub(110)) and F160W (H sub(160)) bandpasses of the Wide Field Camera 3 Infrared Channel (WFC3/IR) on the Hubble Space Telescope. The calibrations are based on data for 16 early-type galaxies in the Virgo and Fornax clusters observed with WFC3/IR and are provided as functions of both the optical (g sub(475)-z sub(850)) and near-infrared (J sub(110)-H sub(160)) colors. The scatter about the linear calibration relations for the luminous red galaxies in the sample is approximately 0.10 mag, corresponding to a statistical error of 5% in distance. Our results imply that the distance to any suitably bright elliptical galaxy can be measured with this precision out to about 80 Mpc in a single-orbit observation with WFC3/IR, making this a remarkably powerful instrument for extragalactic distances. Because of the population variations among bluer galaxies, distance measurements in the near-IR are best limited to red early-type galaxies.