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Reconnaissance with JWST of the J-region Asymptotic Giant Branch in Distance Ladder Galaxies: From Irregular Luminosity Functions to Approximation of the Hubble Constant

Publication ,  Journal Article
Li, S; Riess, AG; Casertano, S; Anand, GS; Scolnic, DM; Yuan, W; Breuval, L; Huang, CD
Published in: Astrophysical Journal
May 1, 2024

We study stars in the J-regions of the asymptotic giant branch (JAGB) of near-infrared color-magnitude diagrams in the maser host NGC 4258 and four hosts of six Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia): NGC 1448, NGC 1559, NGC 5584, and NGC 5643. These clumps of stars are readily apparent near 1.0 < F150W − F277W < 1.5 and m F150W = 22-25 mag with James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam photometry. Various methods have been proposed to assign an apparent reference magnitude to this recently proposed standard candle, including the mode, median, sigma-clipped mean, or a modeled luminosity function parameter. We test the consistency of these by measuring intrahost variations, finding differences of up to ∼0.2 mag that significantly exceed statistical uncertainties. Brightness differences appear intrinsic, and are further amplified by the nonuniform shape of the JAGB luminosity function, also apparent in the LMC and SMC. We follow a “many methods” approach to measure consistently JAGB magnitudes and distance moduli to the SN Ia host sample calibrated by NGC 4258. We find broad agreement with distance moduli measured from Cepheids, tip of the red giant branch, and Miras. However, the SN host mean distance modulus estimated via the JAGB method necessary to estimate H 0 differs by ∼0.19 mag among the above definitions, the result of different levels of luminosity function asymmetry. The methods yield a full range of 71−78 km s−1 Mpc−1, i.e., a fiducial result of H 0 = 74.7 ± 2.1(stat) ± 2.3(sys, ±3.1 if combined in quadrature) km s−1 Mpc−1, with systematic errors limited by the differences in methods. Future work may seek to standardize and refine this promising tool further, making it more competitive with established distance indicators.

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Published In

Astrophysical Journal

DOI

EISSN

1538-4357

ISSN

0004-637X

Publication Date

May 1, 2024

Volume

966

Issue

1

Related Subject Headings

  • Astronomy & Astrophysics
  • 5109 Space sciences
  • 5107 Particle and high energy physics
  • 5101 Astronomical sciences
  • 0306 Physical Chemistry (incl. Structural)
  • 0202 Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics
  • 0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences
 

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Li, S., Riess, A. G., Casertano, S., Anand, G. S., Scolnic, D. M., Yuan, W., … Huang, C. D. (2024). Reconnaissance with JWST of the J-region Asymptotic Giant Branch in Distance Ladder Galaxies: From Irregular Luminosity Functions to Approximation of the Hubble Constant. Astrophysical Journal, 966(1). https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad2f2b
Li, S., A. G. Riess, S. Casertano, G. S. Anand, D. M. Scolnic, W. Yuan, L. Breuval, and C. D. Huang. “Reconnaissance with JWST of the J-region Asymptotic Giant Branch in Distance Ladder Galaxies: From Irregular Luminosity Functions to Approximation of the Hubble Constant.” Astrophysical Journal 966, no. 1 (May 1, 2024). https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad2f2b.
Li S, Riess AG, Casertano S, Anand GS, Scolnic DM, Yuan W, Breuval L, Huang CD. Reconnaissance with JWST of the J-region Asymptotic Giant Branch in Distance Ladder Galaxies: From Irregular Luminosity Functions to Approximation of the Hubble Constant. Astrophysical Journal. 2024 May 1;966(1).
Journal cover image

Published In

Astrophysical Journal

DOI

EISSN

1538-4357

ISSN

0004-637X

Publication Date

May 1, 2024

Volume

966

Issue

1

Related Subject Headings

  • Astronomy & Astrophysics
  • 5109 Space sciences
  • 5107 Particle and high energy physics
  • 5101 Astronomical sciences
  • 0306 Physical Chemistry (incl. Structural)
  • 0202 Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics
  • 0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences