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The SBF Survey of Galaxy Distances. IV. SBF Magnitudes, Colors, and Distances

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John L. Tonry, Alan Dressler, John P. Blakeslee, Edward A. Ajhar, Andre B. Fletcher, Gerard A. Luppino, Mark R. Metzger, Christopher B. Moore

Astrophysics · Submitted 10 Nov 2000

abstract compiled · 2026-09-23 · no language-model review

The authors' main claim (1) We compare the mean peculiar flow velocity (bulk flow) implied by our distances with predictions of typical cold dark matter transfer functions as a function of scale, and find very good agreement with cold, dark matter cosmologies if the transfer function scale parameter $\Gamma$, and the power spectrum normalization $\sigma_8$ are related by $\sigma_8 \Gamma^{-0.5} \approx 2\pm0.5$.

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arXiv IDastro-ph/0011223 (version 1)
Pith IDSK3JBOPJ, Pith's permanent record of this paper and its review
CitationAlan Dressler, Andre B. Fletcher, Christopher B. Moore, Edward A. Ajhar, Gerard A. Luppino, John L. Tonry, John P. Blakeslee, Mark R. Metzger. "The SBF Survey of Galaxy Distances. IV. SBF Magnitudes, Colors, and Distances." arXiv:astro-ph/0011223 (2000). https://pith.science/paper/SK3JBOPJ
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The paper's own sentences, arranged. Each label is drawn from a closed vocabulary; the number beside it is the probability the classifier gave that label. Numbers in the tables are the authors', checked by code. No sentence in this record was written by a model.

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Compiled by classifier-1.13.0 via TypeSafe API, question bank abstract-p1-20260923, 2026-09-23: 1 request, 6,422 input tokens.

What the abstract itself states, as probabilities: claims first 0.03 · states limitation 0.49 · human participants 0.01 · controlled comparison 0.12 · randomized assignment 0.01 · states quantitative result 0.99 · compares with prior results 0.90 · mentions code or data availability 0.04.

The abstract, sentence by sentence

arXiv listing abstract v1. Results and the main claim are underlined; .

We report data for $I$ band Surface Brightness Fluctuation (SBF) magnitudes, V-I colors, and distance moduli for 300 galaxies. The Survey contains E, S0 and early-type spiral galaxies in the proportions of 49:42:9, and is essentially complete for E galaxies to Hubble velocities of 2000 km/s, with a substantial sampling of E galaxies out to 4000 km/s. The median error in distance modulus is 0.22 mag. We also present two new results from the Survey. (1) We compare the mean peculiar flow velocity (bulk flow) implied by our distances with predictions of typical cold dark matter transfer functions as a function of scale, and find very good agreement with cold, dark matter cosmologies if the transfer function scale parameter $\Gamma$, and the power spectrum normalization $\sigma_8$ are related by $\sigma_8 \Gamma^{-0.5} \approx 2\pm0.5$. Derived directly from velocities, this result is independent of the distribution of galaxies or models for biasing. The modest bulk flow contradicts reports of large-scale, large-amplitude flows in the $\sim200$ Mpc diameter volume surrounding our Survey volume. (2) We present a distance-independent measure of absolute galaxy luminosity, \Nbar, and show how it correlates with galaxy properties such as color and velocity dispersion, demonstrating its utility for measuring galaxy distances through large and unknown extinction.

background contribution method result interpretation main claim

What the classifier reports for each sentence. The number is the probability it gave the label.
#sentencerolethe authors' own workstates the main conclusionstrength
s0 We report data for $I$ band Surface Brightness Fluctuation (SBF) magnitudes, V-I colors, and distance moduli for 300 galaxies. contribution 0.91 0.97 0.07 asserted 0.99
s1 The Survey contains E, S0 and early-type spiral galaxies in the proportions of 49:42:9, and is essentially complete for E galaxies to Hubble velocities of 2000 km/s, with a substantial sampling of E galaxies out to 4000 km/s. contribution 0.80 0.80 0.05 asserted 1.00
s2 The median error in distance modulus is 0.22 mag. result 0.91 0.93 0.06 asserted 1.00
s3 We also present two new results from the Survey. contribution 0.99 0.81 0.03 asserted 0.83
s4 (1) We compare the mean peculiar flow velocity (bulk flow) implied by our distances with predictions of typical cold dark matter transfer functions as a function of scale, and find very good agreement with cold, dark matter cosmologies if the transfer function scale parameter $\Gamma$, and the power spectrum normalization $\sigma_8$ are related by $\sigma_8 \Gamma^{-0.5} \approx 2\pm0.5$. result 0.94 0.96 0.37 asserted 0.96
s5 Derived directly from velocities, this result is independent of the distribution of galaxies or models for biasing. interpretation 0.74 0.75 0.07 asserted 1.00
s6 The modest bulk flow contradicts reports of large-scale, large-amplitude flows in the $\sim200$ Mpc diameter volume surrounding our Survey volume. interpretation 0.76 0.73 0.11 asserted 1.00
s7 (2) We present a distance-independent measure of absolute galaxy luminosity, \Nbar, and show how it correlates with galaxy properties such as color and velocity dispersion, demonstrating its utility for measuring galaxy distances through large and unknown extinction. contribution 0.70 0.97 0.13 asserted 1.00

What kind of paper the classifier reports this is: dataset or benchmark 0.92 · evidence from observation or experiment 0.98.

What was examined, and what was not

sources read
  • arXiv listing abstract v1
not examined
  • full text
  • figures and tables
  • references and citing sentences
  • relations to other papers
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  • P abstract
not run
  • S sections
  • T body sentences
  • C citations
  • R cross-paper relations

Every quoted sentence on this record is the authors'. Every label is from Pith's closed vocabulary, with the probability shown beside it. Every number in the measurements table is the authors', checked by code. Record as JSON

The paper
Original abstract

We report data for $I$ band Surface Brightness Fluctuation (SBF) magnitudes, V-I colors, and distance moduli for 300 galaxies. The Survey contains E, S0 and early-type spiral galaxies in the proportions of 49:42:9, and is essentially complete for E galaxies to Hubble velocities of 2000 km/s, with a substantial sampling of E galaxies out to 4000 km/s. The median error in distance modulus is 0.22 mag. We also present two new results from the Survey. (1) We compare the mean peculiar flow velocity (bulk flow) implied by our distances with predictions of typical cold dark matter transfer functions as a function of scale, and find very good agreement with cold, dark matter cosmologies if the transfer function scale parameter $\Gamma$, and the power spectrum normalization $\sigma_8$ are related by $\sigma_8 \Gamma^{-0.5} \approx 2\pm0.5$. Derived directly from velocities, this result is independent of the distribution of galaxies or models for biasing. The modest bulk flow contradicts reports of large-scale, large-amplitude flows in the $\sim200$ Mpc diameter volume surrounding our Survey volume. (2) We present a distance-independent measure of absolute galaxy luminosity, \Nbar, and show how it correlates with galaxy properties such as color and velocity dispersion, demonstrating its utility for measuring galaxy distances through large and unknown extinction.

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References
How later papers used it

104 later papers cite it

Evidence: substantial. 99 of the citing papers share no author with it, and 79 of those carry a confident label from Pith's citation classifier.

Pith read 23 of the 137 citing sentences, choosing only those whose citation markers point at this paper alone, and wrote the paraphrases from them. The summary, the counts, the evidence level, the links and the quotes come from code; the summary counts the papers listed below. A later paper is listed under a label when Pith's citation classifier gives one of its sentences that label at probability 0.8 or more (0.95 for support), Pith's reading finds that the citing paper itself did it, and a second check confirms the paraphrase against the sentence. This section lists uses only. It does not list criticism or disagreement, so their absence here says nothing about how the paper has been received. Papers that share an author with this one are listed apart, under "By the same authors". A quote is the citing authors' own sentence, shown when their paper's licence is CC BY, CC BY-SA or CC0. JSON

Uses its data or values 13 of 75 papers with this label
How the literature uses it

10 arXiv papers cite this in 13 sentences

Each citing sentence is taken from the citing paper's LaTeX source and typed by Pith's classifier. A label appears at probability 0.8 or more (0.95 for support), a contest at 0.7 or more; the quoted words are the citing authors'. How each label was checked · JSON

Papers citing it · 6 sentences without a confident label

Uses its data or values 5 papers
  • [ref] L 6 [ref] NGC 4303 0.00523 SAB(rs)bc 16.47 $^+ 0.27 _- 0.27$ PL [ref] 2 5 NGC 4395 0.00107 SA(s)m 4.10 $^+ 0.40 _- 0.40$ PL [ref] 1 5 NGC 4565 0.00409 SA(s)b 11.90 $^+ 0.30 _- 0.20$ TRGB [ref] 2 3 NGC 4639 0.00337 SAB(rs)bc 20.25 $^+ 0.66 _- 0.66$ PL [ref] 1 7 NGC 4939 0.01038 SA(s)bc 43.75 $^+ 1.21 _- 1.21$ SNII [ref] 2 2 NGC 4945 0.00187 SB(s)cd 3.47 $^+ 0.05 _- 0.05$ TRGB [ref] 2 2 NGC 5055 0.00168 SA(rs)bc 8.87 $^+ 0.31 _- 0.31$ TRGB [ref] L 8 NGC 5643 0.00400 SAB(rs)c 12.42 $^+ 0.63 _- 0.63$ TRGB [ref] 2 2 NGC 5728 0.00930 SAB(r)a 42.27 $^+ 1.75 _- 1.75$ SNIa [ref] 1.9 2 NGC 6814* 0.00521 SAB(rs)bc 21.60 $^+ 0.40 _- 0.40$ PL [ref] 1 4 NGC 6951 0.00476 SAB(rs)bc 18.79 $^+ 0.87 _- 0.87$ SNIa CF2 L 9 M 58 0.00507 SAB(rs)b 21.00 $^+ 2.00 _- 2.00$ SNIa [ref] L 3 M 104 0.00364 SA(s)a 9.55 $^+ 0.13 _- 0.31$ TRGB [ref] L 8 8lInteracting Galaxies NGC 3227* 0.00382 SAB(s)a pec 23.70 $^+

    On the Tully-Fisher Relation for Active Galaxies -- I: Evidence of Larger Scatter · Data · 1.00

  • The CF4 catalog contains 55,877 galaxies, including galaxies from Cosmicflows-3 [ref] , which is a compilation of Type Ia supernovae [ref] , Tully-Fisher (TF) spiral galaxy clusters [ref] , Streaming Motions of Abell Clusters (SMAC) from FP survey [ref] , FP early-type far galaxy clusters [ref] , TF clusters [ref] , the SFI++ catalog [ref] , the SFI++ group catalog [ref] , an early-type nearby galaxy survey [ref] , a surface brightness fluctuation survey [ref] , Spitzer Space Telescope [ref] , and 6-degree Field Galaxy Survey [ref] , together with additions from Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA survey [ref] and Sloan Digital Sky Survey [ref] .

    The peculiar velocity correlation function of the Cosmicflows-4 catalog · Observational data from Cosmicflows-4 · 0.82

  • To set up the CLUES initial conditions we used radial velocities of galaxies drawn from the MARK III [ref] , SBF [ref] and the [ref] catalogues.

    Dark Matter in the Local Universe · Observational Data · 1.00

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