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J. B. Jensen (Gemini), J. L. Tonry (Hawaii), R. I. Thompson (Steward Observatory), E. A. Ajhar (NOAO), M. J. Rieke (Steward Observatory), T. R. Lauer (NOAO), M. Postman (STScI)
We measured IR surface brightness fluctuation (SBF) distances for an isotropically distributed set of 12 brightest cluster galaxies with distances reaching 10,000 km/s using the near-IR camera and multi-object spectrometer (NICMOS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The excellent resolution using NICMOS and brightness of the IR fluctuations allowed us to make the most distant SBF measurements to date. Ten galaxies in clusters with HST Cepheid distances were observed to calibrate the SBF distance scale in the F160W (1.6 micron) filter. Fourteen galaxies have I-band SBF distance measurements and provide another calibration of the IR distances. We present the F160W SBF Hubble diagram and compare the distances measured using the Cepheid and I-band SBF calibrations to each other and to theoretical stellar population models for the purpose of determining the Hubble constant on scales in excess of 100 Mpc. The sample of galaxies was chosen to minimize sensitivity to local bulk motions, and we estimate their influence on the current result.
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