The Hubble Constant from Type Ia Supernovae in Early-Type Galaxies

Tom Richtler, Georg Drenkhahn

Published 1999-09-07Version 1

Type Ia supernovae (SNe) are the best standard candles available today in spite of an appreciable intrinsic variation of their luminosities at maximum phase, and of probably non-uniform progenitors. For an unbiased use of type Ia SNe as distance indicators it is important to know accurately how the decline rate and colour at maximum phase correlate with the peak brightness. In order to calibrate the Hubble diagram of type Ia SNe, i.e. to derive the Hubble constant, one needs to determine the absolute brightness of nearby type Ia SNe. Globular cluster systems of early type Ia host galaxies provide suitable distance indicators. We discuss how Ia SNe can be calibrated and explain the method of Globular Cluster Luminosity Functions (GCLFs). At present, the distance to the Fornax galaxy cluster is most important for deriving the Hubble constant. Our present data indicate a Hubble constant of H_0=72+-4 km/s/Mpc. As an appendix, we summarise what is known about absolute magnitudes of Ia's in late-type galaxies.