Luminosity-HI velocity width relation for spirals

Multicolour and multiaperture photometry of 22 late-type Virgo cluster galaxies in a newV (5500 Å),r (6738 Å),IV (10500 Å) system confirm the previously known correlations between the luminosity and H₁ velocity width, and show them to be strongly wavelength dependent with the slope of the relation reaching a maximum value of ～ ? 10 at 10500 Å and remaining constant at longer wavelengths. The scatter in the luminosity-H₁ width relation is nearly the same, whether we use (V)^c _?0.5, (r)^c _?0.5, (IV)^c _-0.5, or (H)^c _-0.5 magnitudes. The error in the determination of the corrected magnitudes is much less than the scatter in the luminosity-H₁ width relations as evidenced by the fact that the residuals of individual galaxies inV, r, IV, andH are correlated with one another. An attempt to use a ‘kinematic magnitude’ instead of an isophotal magnitude shows the slope of the luminosity-H₁ width relations to be reduced substantially. Observations in theV, r, andIV system for fifteen field galaxies and three galaxies in the Cancer and Zw 74-23 clusters have been obtained and combined with the H₁ velocity width to derive their differences in distance modulus, between the galaxy and the Virgo cluster, through the luminosity-H₁ width relations of the Virgo cluster galaxies. The three independent differences in the distance modulus of each galaxy agree with one another indicating that the relations usingV, r andIV magnitudes have the same zero point in absolute magnitude, independent of the wavelength of observations. The distance modulus difference from the Virgo cluster to the three galaxies U 4334, U 8942 and U 8944, which are outside the Local Supercluster, are +1·50, +3·45 and +2·81 mag respectively and are in agreement with those of +1·75, +3·23 and +2·46 mag derived for the same galaxies by Aaronsonet al. (1980) throughH magnitudes. The scatter in the velocity distance relation of the field galaxies compares well with the mean error derived in the luminosity-H_I width relations and hence is intrinsic.