The calibration of the wise w1 and w2 Tully-Fisher relation

Abstract

In order to explore local large-scale structures and velocity fields, accurate galaxy distance measures are needed. We now extend the well-tested recipe for calibrating the correlation between galaxy rotation rates and luminosities - capable of providing such distance measures - to the all-sky, space-based imaging data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) W1 (3.4 μm) and W2 (4.6 μm) filters. We find a correlation of line width to absolute magnitude (known as the Tully-Fisher relation, TFR) of M b,i,k,aW1 =-20.35 - 9.56(logWiMx -2.5) (0.54 mag rms) and Mb,i,k,aW 2 = -19.76 - 9.74(logWimx - 2.5) (0.54 mag rms) and (0.56 mag rms) from 310 galaxies in 13 clusters. We update the I-band TFR using a sample 9% larger than in Tully & Courtois. We derive Mb,i,kI = -21.34 -8.95(logWimx-2.5) (0.46 mag rms). The WISE TFRs show evidence of curvature. Quadratic fits give Mb,i,k,aW1 = -20.48 - 8.36(logWiMx - 2.5) + 3.60(log WiMx - 2.5) 2 (0.52 mag rms) and Mb,i,k,aW2 = -19.91-8.40(log WiMx-2.5)+4.32(log W iMx-2.5)2 (0.52 mag rms) and (0.55 mag rms). We apply an I-band -WISE color correction to lower the scatter and derive M CW1= -20.22-9.12(log WiMx-2.5) and M CW2 = -19.63-9.11(log WiMx -2.5) (both 0.46 mag rms). Using our three independent TFRs (W1 curved, W2 curved, and I band), we calibrate the UNION2 Type Ia supernova sample distance scale and derive H 0 = 74.4 ± 1.4(stat) ± 2.4(sys) km s-1 Mpc-1 with 4% total error. © 2014. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.