1. Towards a 3% Geometric Distance to NGC 4258 A. Argon, L. Greenhill, M. Reid, J. Moran & E. Humphreys (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA) 20 April 2007 Adam Trotter (UNC-Chapel Hill) Palomar Observatory J. Kagaya (Hoshi No Techou)

2. The Host Galaxy NGC 4258 (M106) –Barred spiral SABbc –Seyfert 1.9, D=7.2 Mpc “Anomalous spiral arms” detected in Hα and radio continuum Recent Chandra, XMM, Spitzer and other images highlight the dual nature of spiral arms – normal + jet impinging on ISM Palomar ObservatoryWilson, Yang & Cecil 2001 http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/ngc4258/

3. Angular resolution = 200  as (0.006 pc at 7.2 Mpc) Spectral resolution < 1 km s -1 VLBA

4. H 2 O Masers Conditions required –Dense(10 8 - 10 10 cm -3 ) –Warm(300 - 800 K) –Quiescent(Δv ~ Δv D ) Masers trace “hotspots” in underlying structures –Compact(θ < 1 mas) –High surface brightness(T B ~ 10 7 - 10 15 K) –Yield θ x, θ y, v los, dθ x /dt, dθ y /dt, dv los /dt

5. Greenhill et al. 1995, A&A 304, 21 Nobeyana 40-m Telescope Owens Valley Radio Observatory, 40-m antenna The Nuclear Megamaser Discovered by Claussen, Heiligman & Lo (1984) –Centered on galactic systemic v sys = 470 km s -1 –Isotropic Luminosity ~120 L A Nakai et al. (1993) discovered emission at  1000 km s -1 Greenhill et al. 1995: VLBI Observations of systemic emission show linear structure. Secular velocity drift implies centripetal acceleration in a flat disk.

6. The Big Picture Miyoshi et al. (1995) present VLBI images of full velocity range of maser emission –Systemic emission in narrow band S of radio continuum (jet) –High-velocity emission distributed  0.3 pc to either side –High-velocity emission exhibits nearly perfect Keplerian rotation curve

7. Global Model Fits Assume warped disk (position angle and inclination change as functions of radius) Systemic velocity v 0 = 479  3 km s -1 Central Mass M 0 =3.78  0.01x10 7 M A Position of disk center determined to  30μas Plummer model of central cluster would require central density ρ c > 5.7x10 11 M A pc -3 : unstable to collapse/disruption in lifetime of galaxy Massive disk model would imply densities 10-1000x too great to support water maser emission Must be a supermassive black hole! Herrnstein, Moran, Greenhill & Trotter, ApJ 2005

8. TO OBSERVER 0.1pcObserver’s view Top View High Bowl Redshifted masers Blueshifted masers Systemic Masers Courtesy CfA Maser Group, Humphreys, et al. (in prep) NGC 4258 Inclination warp (flattening of high velocity rotation curve): 8° across reds Position angle warp (declinations): 9° across reds Disk obscures much of central region Systemic masers in bowl on front side of disk 0.1pc

9. Warp is Well- Characterized Natural explanation for: Faint blue high velocity feature (free-free absorption along the line-of-sight) Strongest red high velocity feature ~1306 km s -1 (where i=90º) Strongest systemic maser flares at ~490 km s -1 (optimum coherence path) X-ray absorbing layer (n H ~ 10 23 cm -2 ) radius = 0.29 pc where disk crosses line-of- sight (Fruscione et al. 2005) Top View High Bowl 0.1pc

10. How to Get a Distance? Measure accelerations & proper motions v los 2  M/D  hi M/D dv los /d   [M/D  sys 3 ] 1/2 a los  v 2 / D  sys D M  sys Acceleration Distance or  ~ v t /D  (M/D) 1/2 /D  sys 1/2. D M Proper Motion Distance

11. Herrnstein et al. 1999

12. The Result Acceleration Distance: Proper Motion Distance: Including all systematic model uncertainties, a 5% geometric distance measurement:

13. Comparison to Other Measurements D = 7.2  0.3 Mpc H-band Tully Fisher (Aaronson et al. 1982) D = 7.1  1.1 Mpc Blue Tully Fisher (Richter & Huchtmeier 1984) D = 7.9  1.8 Mpc Luminosity Class Estimate (Rowan-Robinson 1985) D = 8.4  2.2 Mpc Cepheid Variables D = 8.1  0.4 Mpc (Maoz et al. 1999 - 15 Cepheids) D = 7.8  0.3  0.5 Mpc (Newman et al. 2001 - same 15 Cepheids) D = 7.4 Mpc (Macri et al 2006 - 300 Cepheids) All these depend on Cepheid calibrations

14. 18 epochs of VLBI observations, 1997 March – 2000 August, using VLBA, VLA Phased Array and Effelsberg 100-m antenna Wider bandwidth → Detection of new high-velocity features 30% closer to disk center Quantification of maser disk thickness, h~5 μas, will lead to more accurate models and estimates of mass accretion rate – ADAF? More robust genetic modeling algorithm to refine warped disk shape and reduce systematic uncertainties Inclusion of possible spiral structure in high-velocity masers, and ellipticity in systemic maser orbits HST observations (in progress) of Cepheids in NGC4258 to provide independent calibration of Cepheid distance scale Ultimately, a new measurement of H 0, though at a distance of 7.2 Mpc, unmodeled local velocity field perturbations may limit accuracy of the result. Towards a 3% Distance Measurement Argon et al. 2007 (in preparation)

15. Mai: Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, c. 1410 The May jaunt, a pageant celebrating the "joli mois de Mai" in which one had to wear green garments known as livree de mai. The riders are young noblemen and women, with princes and princesses.