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Cepheid and Long – Period Variables in Virgo Cluster Galaxies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2018

M.J. Pierce
Affiliation:
Kitt Peak National Observatory, U.S.A.
R.D. McClure
Affiliation:
Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, National Research Council, Canada
D.L. Welch
Affiliation:
McMaster University, Canada
R. Racine
Affiliation:
Université de Montreal, Canada
S. van den Bergh
Affiliation:
Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, National Research Council, Canada

Abstract

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We are currently undertaking a ground-based imaging survey which attempts to discover and determine periods for variable stars in Virgo Cluster galaxies. Such a survey is now feasible thanks to the high resolution imaging (FWHM ≤ 0.50 arcsec) routinely obtained with the High Resolution Camera on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. The Virgo Cluster has long been considered a crucial “stepping-stone” in the extragalactic distance scale problem given that the cluster is at a “cosmologically interesting” distance and that there is little controversy in the relative distance between Virgo and more distant clusters, such as Coma. Consequently, much of the controversy regarding the extragalactic distance scale and the Hubble Constant can be eliminated with a determination of the Virgo Cluster distance. Some preliminary results and the prospects for establishing the distance to the Virgo Cluster using Cepheids and LPVs are discussed.

Type
Variable Stars as Distance Indicators
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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