The Quest For 3%: Strategies to Improve H_0 Precision with the Megamaser Cosmology Project

Nathan C. Shaw
Dr. Tim Wiser, Faculty Mentor

The Megamaser Cosmology Project (MCP) aims to measure the Hubble Constant (H_0) using observations of water megamasers in the disks of nearby active galaxies. Here we assess several strategies for improving the MCP precision using existing observational facilities. We find that the most meaningful improvements would result from new observations of the megamaser systems in NGC 6323 and NGC 5765b, and the combined overall improvement would result in a Hubble Constant uncertainty of 3.1%.

Keywords: Cosmology, Astronomy, Masers, Galactic, Observation, Astrophysics, Black Hole, Space

Topic(s):Astronomy
Physics

Presentation Type: Oral Presentation

Session: TBA
Location: TBA
Time: TBA