Graham, James AST 96-17173 Dr. Graham will calibrate and apply infrared surface brightness fluctuation measurements of galaxies as a cosmological distance indicator. The observational part of the study will use a variety of telescopes to calibrate the method on nearby galaxies and then observe distances two to three times farther than before, as far as the Coma cluster. The theoretical portion of the research will use stellar population models to investigate the predicted behavior of infrared surface brightness fluctuations and to compare them with observations.
