Relationship Between Cepheid and Tully-Fisher Distance Calculations

Abstract

A correlation between (1) the difference between the Tully-Fisher calculated distance and Cepheid calculated distance for a target galaxy and (2) the magnitude and distance of galaxies close to the target galaxy is described. The result is based on a sample of 31 galaxies that have published Cepheid distances with a wide range of characteristics and distances from 2.02 Mpc to 49.7 Mpc. The energy impinging on a target galaxy from neighboring galaxies is related to the residual between Tully-Fisher and Cepheid distance calculations of the target galaxy. These relations have four different zones dependent on the value of the impinging energy. The correlation coefficients are 0.77, 0.87, 0.81, and 0.98, respectively. This relationship is of interest not only for its ability to reduce the Tully-Fisher to Cepheid distance residual but also because it suggests neighboring galaxies have a strong influence on the apparent luminosity of galaxies and it suggests the Tully-Fisher relationship assumption that the intrinsic mass to intrinsic luminosity ratio is constant among galaxies is valid for z < 0.006.