Nature, Vol.371, No.6500, 757-762, 1994
Distance to the Virgo Cluster Galaxy M100 from Hubble-Space-Telescope Observations of Cepheids
Accurate distances to galaxies are critical for determining the present expansion rate of the Universe or Hubble constant (H-o). An important step in resolving the current uncertainty in H-o is the measurement of the distance to the Virgo cluster of galaxies. New observations using the Hubble Space Telescope yield a distance of 17.1 +/- 1.8 Mpc to the Virgo cluster galaxy M100. This distance leads to a value of H-o = 80 +/- 17 km s(-1) Mpc(-1). A comparable value of H-o is also derived from the Coma cluster using independent estimates of its distance ratio relative to the Virgo cluster.
Keywords:MEASURING EXTRAGALACTIC DISTANCES;RR LYRAE STARS;ABSOLUTE MAGNITUDES;STANDARD CANDLES;IA SUPERNOVAE;SCALE;CONSTANT;MOTION;VELOCITY;SUPERCLUSTER