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Title:
The ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. XIII. SBF Distance Catalog and the Three-dimensional Structure of the Virgo Cluster
Authors:
Mei, Simona; Blakeslee, John P.; Côté, Patrick; Tonry, John L.; West, Michael J.; Ferrarese, Laura; Jordán, Andrés; Peng, Eric W.; Anthony, André; Merritt, David
Affiliation:
AA(Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD; .; GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, Section de Meudon, Meudon Cedex, France.; University of Paris 7 Denis Didevot, Paris Cedex 05, France.), AB(Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, WA.), AC(Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, National Research Council, Victoria, BC, Canada.), AD(Institute of Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI.), AE(Gemini Observatory, La Serena, Chile.; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Hilo, HI.), AF(Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, National Research Council, Victoria, BC, Canada.), AG(European Southern Observatory, Garching, Germany.), AH(Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, National Research Council, Victoria, BC, Canada.), AI(Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, National Research Council, Victoria, BC, Canada.), AJ(Department of Physics, Rochester Institute of Rochester, NY 14623.)
Publication:
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 655, Issue 1, pp. 144-162. (ApJ Homepage)
Publication Date:
01/2007
Origin:
UCP
ApJ Keywords:
Galaxies: Clusters: Individual: Name: Virgo, Galaxies: Distances and Redshifts, Galaxies: Dwarf, Galaxies: Elliptical and Lenticular, cD
DOI:
10.1086/509598
Bibliographic Code:
2007ApJ...655..144M

Abstract

The ACS Virgo Cluster Survey consists of HST ACS imaging for 100 early-type galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, observed in the F475W (~SDSS g) and F850LP (~SDSS z) filters. We derive distances for 84 of these galaxies using the method of surface brightness fluctuations (SBFs), present the SBF distance catalog, and use this database to examine the three-dimensional distribution of early-type galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. The SBF distance moduli have a mean (random) measurement error of 0.07 mag (0.5 Mpc), or roughly 3 times better than previous SBF measurements for Virgo Cluster galaxies. Five galaxies lie at a distance of d~23 Mpc and are members of the W' cloud. The remaining 79 galaxies have a narrow distribution around our adopted distance of <d>=16.5+/-0.1 (random mean error) +/-1.1 Mpc (systematic). The rms distance scatter of this sample is σ(d)=0.6+/-0.1 Mpc, with little or no dependence on morphological type or luminosity class (i.e., 0.7+/-0.1 and 0.5+/-0.1 Mpc for the giants and dwarfs, respectively). The back-to-front depth of the cluster measured from our sample of early-type galaxies is 2.4+/-0.4 Mpc (i.e., +/-2 σ of the intrinsic distance distribution). The M87 (cluster A) and M49 (cluster B) subclusters are found to lie at distances of 16.7+/-0.2 and 16.4+/-0.2 Mpc, respectively. There may be a third subcluster associated with M86. A weak correlation between velocity and line-of-sight distance may be a faint echo of the cluster velocity distribution not having yet completely virialized. In three dimensions, Virgo's early-type galaxies appear to define a slightly triaxial distribution, with axis ratios of (1:0.7:0.5). The principal axis of the best-fit ellipsoid is inclined ~20°-40° from the line of sight, while the galaxies belonging to the W' cloud lie on an axis inclined by ~10°-15°.

Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.

Associated Articles

Part  3     Part  4     Part 1     Part  2     Part  4     Part  6     Part  9     Part  7     Part  8     Part 10     Part 11     Part 12    

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