Related papers: Cosmicflows-2: I-band Luminosity - HI Linewidth Ca…
Surveys of galaxy distances and radial peculiar velocities can be used to reconstruct the large scale structure. Other than systematic errors in the zero-point calibration of the galaxy distances the main source of uncertainties of such…
Context. A possible correlation between CO luminosity (L_CO ) and its line width (FWHM) has been suggested and denied in the literature. Such claims were often based on a small, or heterogeneous sample of galaxies, and thus inconclusive.…
We have used the Westerbork array to carry out an unbiased wide-field survey for HI emission features, achieving an RMS sensitivity of about 18 mJy/Beam at a velocity resolution of 17 km/s over 1800 deg^2 and between -1000 < V_Hel<+6500…
The most recent Hubble constant ($H_0)$ estimates from local methods (z << 1), $H_0=73.8\pm 2.4$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$, and the one from high redshifts $H_0=67.3\pm 1.2$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$, are discrepant at $2.4 \sigma$ confidence…
We describe a new method of combining optical and infrared photometry to select Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs) at redshifts $z > 0.6$. We explore this technique using a combination of optical photometry from CFHTLS and HST, infrared…
This is the second paper of two reporting results from a study of the HI content and stellar properties of nearby galaxies detected by the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA blind 21-cm line survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey in a 2160 deg^2…
We present adaptive optics-assisted integral field spectroscopy around the Ha or Hb lines of 12 gravitationally lensed galaxies obtained with VLT/SINFONI, Keck/OSIRIS and Gemini/NIFS. We combine these data with previous observations and…
Any calibration of the present value of the Hubble constant requires recession velocities and distances of galaxies. While the conversion of observed velocities into true recession velocities has only a small effect on the result, the…
For the use of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) to probe cosmology in a cosmology-independent way, a new method has been proposed to obtain luminosity distances of GRBs by interpolating directly from the Hubble diagram of SNe Ia, and then…
Distances of galaxies in the Hubble Space Telescope Key Project are based on the Cepheid period-luminosity relation. An alternative basis is the tip of the red giant branch. Using archival HST data, we calibrate the infrared Tully-Fisher…
The current status of our efforts to trace cosmic structure with 10^6 galaxies (2MASS), 10^3 galaxy clusters (NORAS II cluster survey), and precision measurements for 10^2 galaxy clusters (HIFLUGCS) is given. The latter is illustrated in…
The spectrophotometric flux calibration of recent spectroscopic surveys has reached a limiting systematic precision of approximately 1-3 percent, and is often biased near the wavelengths associated with H I Balmer absorption. As we prepare…
We explore the possibility to calibrate massive cluster ellipticals as cosmological standard rods. The method is based on the Fundamental Plane relation combined with a correction for luminosity evolution which is derived from the…
We use the method of statistical parallax to constrain the distance-scale zero points and analyze the kinematics of extensive samples of Galactic classical Cepheids, RR Lyrae type variables, and blue horizontal branch stars, which serve as…
Recent progress in the measurement of relative distances to galaxies has been quite substantial, and catalogs of 3000 galaxies with distances are soon to become available. The peculiar {\it velocity} field (deviations from Hubble flow)…
The shape of the angular power spectrum of galaxies in the linear regime is defined by the horizon size at the matter-radiation equality. When calibrated by cosmic microwave background measurements, the shape of the clustering spectrum can…
Gamma ray bursts (GRBs) have recently attracted much attention as a possible way to extend the Hubble diagram to very high redshift. To this aim, the luminosity (or isotropic emitted energy) of a GRB at redshift z must be evaluated from a…
We present new measurements of the coherent motion of galaxies based on observations of the large-scale redshift-space distortions seen in the two-dimensional two-point correlation function of Luminous Red Galaxies in Data Release Seven of…
The evolution of the line width - luminosity relation for spiral galaxies, the Tully-Fisher relation, strongly constrains galaxy formation and evolution models. At this moment, the kinematics of z>1 spiral galaxies can only be measured…
We present a new model-independent method to determine the spatial curvature and to mitigate the circularity problem affecting the use of quasars as distance indicators. The cosmic-chronometer measurements are used to construct the…