Related papers: The Megamaser Cosmology Project. V. An Angular Dia…
The Megamaser Cosmology Project (MCP) aims to determine H0 by measuring angular-diameter distances to galaxies in the Hubble flow using observations of water vapor megamasers in the circumnuclear accretion disks of active galaxies. The…
We present a measurement of the Hubble constant made using geometric distance measurements to megamaser-hosting galaxies. We have applied an improved approach for fitting maser data and obtained better distance estimates for four galaxies…
In combination with observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background, a measurement of the Hubble Constant provides a direct test of the standard $\Lambda$CDM cosmological model and a powerful constraint on the equation of state of dark…
In Papers I and II from the Megamaser Cosmology Project (MCP), we reported initial observations of water masers in an accretion disk of a supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy UGC 3789, which gave an angular-diameter distance…
As part of the Megamaser Cosmology Project (MCP), here we present a new geometric distance measurement to the megamaser galaxy NGC 5765b. Through a series of VLBI observations, we have confirmed the water masers trace a thin, sub-parsec…
Observations of H$_2$O masers from circumnuclear disks in active galaxies for the Megamaser Cosmology Project allow accurate measurement of the mass of supermassive black holes (BH) in these galaxies. We present the Very Long Baseline…
The Megamaser Cosmology Project (MCP) seeks to measure the Hubble Constant (Ho) in order to improve the extragalactic distance scale and constrain the nature of dark energy. We are searching for sources of water maser emission from AGN with…
We report a new geometric maser distance estimate to the active galaxy NGC 4258. The data for the new model are maser line-of-sight velocities and sky positions from 18 epochs of Very Long Baseline Interferometry observations, and…
As part of the survey component of the Megamaser Cosmology Project, we have discovered a disk megamaser system in the galaxy CGCG 074-064. Using the GBT and the VLA, we have obtained spectral monitoring observations of this maser system at…
Water vapor megamasers from the center of active galaxies provide a powerful tool to trace accretion disks at sub-parsec resolution and, through an entirely geometrical method, measure direct distances to galaxies up to 200 Mpc. The…
We present observations of the H2O megamasers in the accretion disk of NGC 6323. By combining interferometric and spectral monitoring data, we estimate H$_{0} = 73^{+26}_{-22}$ km/s/Mpc, where the low strength of the systemic masers (<15…
The local expansion rate of the Universe is parametrized by the Hubble constant, $H_0$, the ratio between recession velocity and distance. Different techniques lead to inconsistent estimates of $H_0$. Observations of Type Ia supernovae…
H$_2$O megamasers residing in the accretion disks of active galactic nuclei (AGN) exhibit Keplerian rotation about the central supermassive black hole (SMBH). Such disk maser systems are excellent tools for diagnosing the kinematic status…
In this work, we obtain Hubble constant ($H_0$) estimates by using two galaxy cluster gas mass fraction measurement samples, Type Ia supernovae luminosity distances, and the validity of the cosmic distance duality relation. Notably, the…
Water megamasers from circumnuclear disks in galaxy centers provide the most accurate measurements of supermassive black hole masses and uniquely probe the sub-parsec accretion processes. At the same time, these systems offer independent…
We determine the mass of the black hole at the center of the spiral galaxy NGC 4258 by constructing axisymmetric dynamical models of the galaxy. These models are constrained by high spatial resolution imaging and long-slit spectroscopy of…
We present high resolution (sub-mas) VLBI maps of nuclear H2O megamasers for seven galaxies. In UGC6093, the well-aligned systemic masers and high-velocity masers originate in an edge-on, flat disk and we determine the mass of the central…
Current and upcoming wide-field surveys for weak gravitational lensing and the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect will generate mass-selected catalogues of dark matter halos with internal or followup photometric redshift information. The angular…
Megamaser disks provide the most precise and accurate extragalactic supermassive black hole masses. Here we describe a search for megamasers in nearby galaxies using the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). We focus on galaxies where we believe that…
As part of the Megamaser Cosmology Project (MCP), we present VLBI maps of nuclear water masers toward five galaxies. The masers originate in sub-parsec circumnuclear disks. For three of the galaxies, we fit Keplerian rotation curves to…