The membership of some galaxies in the nearby ( d \sim 12 Mpc ) Coma I cloud is uncertain .
Here we present globular cluster luminosity functions ( GCLFs ) from the Hubble Space Telescope for two bright ellipticals which may belong to this group .
After fitting the GCLF , we find a turnover magnitude of m _ { V } ^ { 0 } = 23.23 \pm 0.11 for NGC 4278 and m _ { V } ^ { 0 } = 23.07 \pm 0.13 for NGC 4494 .
Our limiting magnitude is about two magnitudes fainter than these values , making this data among the most complete GCLFs published to date .
The fitted GCLF dispersions ( \sim 1.1 ^ { m } ) are somewhat smaller than typical values for other ellipticals .
Assuming an absolute turnover magnitude of M _ { V } ^ { 0 } = –7.62 , and after applying a small metallicity correction , we derive distance modulii of ( m – M ) = 30.61 \pm 0.14 for NGC 4278 and 30.50 \pm 0.15 for NGC 4494 .
These distance estimates are compared to other methods , and lie within the published range of values .
We conclude that both galaxies lie at the same distance and are both members of the Coma I cloud .