A supernova distance to the anchor galaxy NGC 4258 [CEA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1509.00507


The fortuitous occurrence of a type II-Plateau (IIP) supernova, SN~2014bc, in a galaxy for which distance estimates from a number of primary distance indicators are available provides a means with which to cross-calibrate the standardised candle method (SCM) for type IIP SNe. By applying calibrations from the literature we find distance estimates in line with the most precise measurement to NGC~4258 based on the Keplerian motion of masers (7.6$\pm$0.23\,Mpc), albeit with significant scatter. We provide an alternative local SCM calibration by only considering type IIP SNe that have occurred in galaxies for which a Cepheid distance estimate is available. We find a considerable reduction in scatter ($\sigma_I = 0.16$\, mag.), but note that the current sample size is limited. Applying this calibration, we estimate a distance to NGC~4258 of $7.08\pm0.86$ Mpc.

Read this paper on arXiv…

J. Polshaw, R. Kotak, K. Chambers, et. al.
Thu, 3 Sep 15
28/58

Comments: 7 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables, published in A&A Letters