Distances to nearby galaxies in Sculptor^*

¹ Special Astrophysical Observatory, Russian Academy of Sciences, N. Arkhyz, KChR, 369167, Russia
² Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
³ Isaac Newton Institute, Chile, SAO Branch
⁴ Kitt Peak National Observatory, National Optical Astronomy Observatories, PO Box 26732, Tucson, AZ 85726, USA
⁵ Departamento de Física, Grupo de Astronomía, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile
⁶ UCO/Lick Observatory, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
⁷ Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
⁸ Astronomical Observatory of Kiev University, 04053, Observatorna 3, Kiev, Ukraine
⁹ Department of Astronomy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
¹⁰ Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 830 Dennison Building, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA

Corresponding author: M. E. Sharina, sme@luna.sao.ru

Accepted: 9 December 2002

Abstract

We present an analysis of Hubble Space Telescope/WFPC2 images of nine nearby galaxies in Sculptor. We derive their distances from the luminosity of the tip of the red giant branch stars with a typical accuracy of ∼ 12%. Their distances are 4.21 Mpc (Sc 22), 4.92 Mpc (DDO 226), 3.94 Mpc (NGC 253), 3.40 Mpc (KDG 2), 3.34 Mpc (DDO 6), 3.42 Mpc (ESO 540-030), 4.43 Mpc (ESO 245–05), 4.27 Mpc (UGCA 442), and 3.91 Mpc (NGC 7793). The galaxies are concentrated in several spatially separated loose groups around NGC 300, NGC 253, and NGC 7793. The Sculptor galaxy complex together with the CVn I cloud and the Local Group form a 10 Mpc filament, apparently driven by the free Hubble flow.