The Milky Way, Local Galaxies, and the Infrared Tully-Fisher Relation

@article{citeulike:2384004, abstract = {Using the near-infrared fluxes of local galaxies derived from Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE)/Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE)^5^ J-(1.25 micron) K- (2.2 micron), and L-band (3.5 micron) maps and published Cepheid distances, we construct Tully-Fisher (TF) diagrams for nearby galaxies. The measured dispersions in these luminosity-line width diagrams are remarkably small: sigma\_J\_ = 0.09 mag, sigma\_K\_ = 0.13 mag, and sigma\_L\_ = 0.20 mag. These dispersions include contributions from the intrinsic TF relation scatter and the errors in estimated galaxy distances, fluxes, inclination angles, extinction corrections, and circular speeds. For the J and K bands, Monte Carlo simulations give a 95\% confidence interval upper limit on the true scatter in the TF diagram of sigma\_J\_ \<= 0.35 and sigma\_K\_ \<- 0.45. We determine the Milky Way's luminosity and place it in the TF diagram by fitting a bar plus exponential disk model of the Milky Way to the all- sky DIRBE maps. For "standard" values of its size and circular speed (Sun-Galactic center distance R\_0\_ = 8.5 kpc and {THETA}\_0\_ = 220 km s^- 1^), the Milky Way lies within 1.5 sigma of the TF relations. We can use the TF relation and the Cepheid distances to nearby bright galaxies to constrain R\_0\_ and {THETA}\_0\_: 1.63 log ({THETA}\_0\_/220 km s^-1^) - log (R\_0\_/8.5 kpc) = 0.08 +/- 0.03. Alternatively, we can fix the parameters of the Galaxy to their standard values, ignore the Cepheid zero point, and use the TF relation to determine the Hubble constant directly: H\_0\_ = 72 +/- 12 km s^-1^ Mpc^-1^. We have also tested the TF relation at longer wavelengths, where the emission is dominated by dust. We find no evidence for a TF relation at wavelengths beyond 10 microns. The tight correlation seen in the L band suggests that stellar emission dominates over the 3.3 micron polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission.}, author = {Malhotra, S. and Spergel, D. N. and Rhoads, J. E. and Li, J. }, citeulike-article-id = {2384004}, doi = {10.1086/178181}, eprint = {astro-ph/9604151}, journal = {Astrophys. J.}, keywords = {galaxy, milky-way}, month = {December}, pages = {687+}, posted-at = {2008-02-15 06:15:17}, priority = {2}, title = {The Milky Way, Local Galaxies, and the Infrared Tully-Fisher Relation}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9604151}, volume = {473}, year = {1996} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2384004 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2384004 TI - The Milky Way, Local Galaxies, and the Infrared Tully-Fisher Relation JF - Astrophys. J. VL - 473 SP - 687 N2 - Using the near-infrared fluxes of local galaxies derived from Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE)/Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE)^5^ J-(1.25 micron) K- (2.2 micron), and L-band (3.5 micron) maps and published Cepheid distances, we construct Tully-Fisher (TF) diagrams for nearby galaxies. The measured dispersions in these luminosity-line width diagrams are remarkably small: sigma_J_ = 0.09 mag, sigma_K_ = 0.13 mag, and sigma_L_ = 0.20 mag. These dispersions include contributions from the intrinsic TF relation scatter and the errors in estimated galaxy distances, fluxes, inclination angles, extinction corrections, and circular speeds. For the J and K bands, Monte Carlo simulations give a 95% confidence interval upper limit on the true scatter in the TF diagram of sigma_J_ <= 0.35 and sigma_K_ <- 0.45. We determine the Milky Way's luminosity and place it in the TF diagram by fitting a bar plus exponential disk model of the Milky Way to the all- sky DIRBE maps. For "standard" values of its size and circular speed (Sun-Galactic center distance R_0_ = 8.5 kpc and {THETA}_0_ = 220 km s^- 1^), the Milky Way lies within 1.5 sigma of the TF relations. We can use the TF relation and the Cepheid distances to nearby bright galaxies to constrain R_0_ and {THETA}_0_: 1.63 log ({THETA}_0_/220 km s^-1^) - log (R_0_/8.5 kpc) = 0.08 +/- 0.03. Alternatively, we can fix the parameters of the Galaxy to their standard values, ignore the Cepheid zero point, and use the TF relation to determine the Hubble constant directly: H_0_ = 72 +/- 12 km s^-1^ Mpc^-1^. We have also tested the TF relation at longer wavelengths, where the emission is dominated by dust. We find no evidence for a TF relation at wavelengths beyond 10 microns. The tight correlation seen in the L band suggests that stellar emission dominates over the 3.3 micron polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission. KW - galaxy KW - milky-way AU - Malhotra, S AU - Spergel, DN AU - Rhoads, JE AU - Li, J PY - 1996/December// UR - http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9604151 ER -