Description
In order to explore local large-scale structures and velocity fields, accurate galaxy distance measures are needed. We now extend the well-tested recipe for calibrating the correlation between galaxy rotation rates and luminosities-capable of providing such distance measures-to the all-sky, space-based imaging data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) W1 (3.4 {mu}m) and W2 (4.6 {mu}m) filters. We find a correlation of line width to absolute magnitude (known as the Tully-Fisher relation, TFR) of M_W1_^b,i,k,a^=-20.35-9.56(logW_mx_^i^-2.5) (0.54 mag rms) and M_W2_^b,i,k,a^=-19.76-9.74(logW_mx_^i^-2.5) (0.56 mag rms) from 310 galaxies in 13 clusters. We update the I-band TFR using a sample 9% larger than in Tully & Courtois (2012ApJ...749...78T). We derive M_l_^b,i,k^=-21.34-8.95(logW_mx_^i^-2.5) (0.46 mag rms). The WISE TFRs show evidence of curvature. Quadratic fits give M_W1_^b,i,k,a^=-20.48-8.36(logW_mx_^i^-2.5)+3.60(loglogW_mx_^i^-2.5)^2^ (0.52 mag rms) and M_W2_^b,i,k,a^=-19.91-8.40(logW_mx_^i^-2.5)+ 4.32(loglogW_mx_^i^ -2.5)^2^ (0.55 mag rms). We apply an I-band -WISE color correction to lower the scatter and derive M_Cw1_=-20.22-9.12(logW_mx_^i^-2.5) and M_Cw2_=-19.63-9.11(logW_mx_^i^-2.5) (both 0.46 mag rms). Using our three independent TFRs (W1 curved, W2 curved, and I band), we calibrate the UNION2 Type Ia supernova sample distance scale and derive H_0_=74.4+/-1.4(stat)+/-2.4(sys) km/s/Mpc with 4% total error.
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