The Hubble Space Telescope Key Project to Measure the Hubble Constant

Abstract

A review of the Hubble Space Telescope H0 Key Project is given, as presented at the IAU Symposium 183 on "Cosmological Parameters" held in Kyoto, Japan in August, 1997. An outline of the goals and progress toward this effort is given. Cepheid distances to over a dozen galaxies have now been measured using HST. These distances form the basis for the calibration of a number of secondary distance indicators including the Tully-Fisher relation and type Ia supernovae. Substantial progress has been made in placing empirical limits on the effects of varying metal abundance on the derived Cepheid distances. The Key Project data are consistent with a small effect of -0.24 +/- 0.16 mag/dex. The value of the Hubble constant is presently determined to be 73 +/- 6 (statistical) +/- 8 km/sec/Mpc, based upon a number of methods. A summary of the recent calibration of the Cepheid period-luminosity relation using Hipparcos is also given.

arXiv comment14 pages

References in corpus (7)

• Using SN Ia Light Curve Shapes to Measure The Hubble Constant
• Planetary Nebulae as standard candles XI. Application to Spiral Galaxies
• The SBF Survey of Galaxy Distances. I. Sample Selection, Photometric Calibration, and the Hubble Constant
• Determination of the Hubble constant from observations of Cepheid variables in the galaxy M96
• The Tully-Fisher Relation and H_not
• The MACHO Project LMC Variable Star Inventory IV: Multimode RR Lyrae Stars, Distance to the LMC and Age of the Oldest Stars
• The Extragalactic Distance Scale Key Project VIII. The Discovery of Cepheids and a New Distance to NGC 3621 Using the Hubble Space Telescope

Cited by in corpus (12)

• Hierarchical Galaxy Formation
• The Cosmic Triangle: Revealing the State of the Universe
• Cosmic Complementarity: Joint Parameter Estimation from CMB Experiments and Redshift Surveys
• Distances to Galaxies from the Correlation Between Luminosities and Linewidths. III. Cluster Template and Global Measurements of H0
• The HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale XXVI. The Calibration of Population II Secondary Distance Indicators and the Value of the Hubble Constant
• Dust and Extinction Curves in Galaxies with z>0: The Interstellar Medium of Gravitational Lens Galaxies
• The Type Ia Supernova 1998bu in M96 and the Hubble Constant
• Cepheid Calibration of the Peak Brightness of SNe Ia -- IX. SN 1989B in NGC 3627
• The Hubble Constant and the Expansion Age of the Universe
• The LMC eclipsing binary HV 2274 revisited
• Is Cosmology Solved?
• Searching for a solution to the cosmological constant problem - a toy model