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Paper: Planetary nebulae in the NGC 3379 group - Testing a new standard candle
Volume: 4, The Extragalactic Distance Scale: Proceedings of the ASP 100th Anniversary Symposium
Page: 203
Authors: Ciardullo, Robin; Jacoby, George H.; Ford, Holland C.
Abstract: The forbidden O III 5007 A planetary nebula luminosity function (PNLF) of three early type galaxies in the Leo Cloud are compared and used to estimate distances. The shape of the PNLF, in particular the sharp bright end cutoff, is found to be the same in each galaxy and identical to that observed in M31, implying that this shape is universal and an excellent standard candle. From maximum likelihood analyses, the most probable distances to NGC 3377, NGC 3379, and NGC 3384 are 9.7, 9.1, and 9.4 Mpc, respectively, with 1 sigma errors of about 12 percent.
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