Redshift-distance survey of early-type galaxies: Dipole of the velocity field

We use the recently completed redshift-distance survey of nearby early-type galaxies (ENEAR) to measure the dipole component of the peculiar velocity held to a depth of cz similar to 6000 km s(-1). The sample consists of 1145 galaxies brighter than m(B) = 14.5 and with cz less than or equal to 7000 km s(-1), uniformly distributed over the whole sky, and 129 fainter cluster galaxies within the same volume. Most of the D-n-sigma distances were obta ined from new spectroscopic and photometric observations conducted by this project, ensuring the homogeneity of the data over the whole sky. These 127 4 galaxies are objectively assigned to 696 objects-282 groups/clusters and 414 isolated galaxies. We find that within a volume of radius similar to 60 00 km s(-1), the best-fitting bulk flow has an amplitude of /nu(b)/ = 220 /- 60 +/- 50 km s(-1) in the cosmic microwave background rest frame pointin g toward l = 304 degrees +/- 16 degrees, b = 25 degrees +/- 11 degrees. The error in the amplitude includes statistical, sampling, and possible system atic errors. This solution is in excellent agreement with that obtained by the SFI (I-band field spiral) Tully-Fisher survey. Our results suggest that most of the motion of the Local Group is due to fluctuations within 6000 k m s(-1), in contrast to recent claims of large-amplitude bulk motions on la rger scales.