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The Luminosity Calibration of SNe Ia: Present Status

G. A. Tammann, B. Reindl

astro-pharXiv:astro-ph/9903220

Abstract

Blue Supernovae of Type Ia (SNe Ia) have become the most important objects in cosmology being of exceptionally uniform luminosity. Used as relative distance indicators they map deviations from pure Hubble flow and determine the cosmological constant Lambda. Once their absolute magnitude is determined they provide the best estimate of the large-scale value of the Hubble constant H0. An HST project is reviewed where Cepheid distances are used for the luminosity calibration of SNe Ia. The mean luminosity of 8 SNe Ia is MB(max)= -19.47 +/- 0.07, MV(max)= -19.48 +/- 0.07, corresponding -- after small corrections for second parameters -- to H0(cosmic)= 59 +/- 5.

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