{
  "id": "2205.08548",
  "version": "v1",
  "published": "2022-05-17T18:00:01.000Z",
  "updated": "2022-05-17T18:00:01.000Z",
  "title": "Distances to Local Group Galaxies via Population II, Stellar Distance Indicators I: The Sculptor Dwarf Spheroidal",
  "authors": [
    "Quang H. Tran",
    "Taylor J. Hoyt",
    "Wendy L. Freedman",
    "Barry F. Madore",
    "Elias K. Oakes",
    "William Cerny",
    "Dylan Hatt",
    "Rachael L. Beaton"
  ],
  "comment": "16 pages, 14 figures",
  "categories": [
    "astro-ph.GA",
    "astro-ph.CO"
  ],
  "abstract": "We determine the distance to the Sculptor Dwarf Spheroidal via three Population II stellar distance indicators: (a) the Tip of the Red Giant Branch (TRGB), (b) RR Lyrae variables (RRLs), and (c) the ridgeline of the blue horizontal branch (HB). High signal-to-noise, wide-field $VI$ imaging that covers an area $48' \\times 48'$ and reaches a photometric depth approximately 2 mag fainter than the HB was acquired with the Magellan-Baade 6.5m telescope. The true modulus derived from Sculptor's TRGB is found to be $\\mu^\\mathrm{TRGB}_o = 19.59 \\pm 0.07_\\mathrm{stat} \\pm 0.05_\\mathrm{sys}$ mag. Along with periods adopted from the literature, newly acquired RRL phase points are fit with template light curves to determine $\\mu_{W_{I,V-I}}^\\mathrm{RRL} = 19.60 \\pm 0.01_\\mathrm{stat} \\pm 0.05_\\mathrm{sys}$ mag. Finally, the HB distance is found to be $\\mu^\\mathrm{HB}_o = 19.54 \\pm 0.03_\\mathrm{stat} \\pm 0.09_\\mathrm{sys}$ mag. Absolute calibrations of each method are anchored by independent geometric zero-points, utilizes a different class of stars, and are determined from the same photometric calibration.",
  "revisions": [
    {
      "version": "v1",
      "updated": "2022-05-17T18:00:01.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "analyses": {
    "keywords": [
      "sculptor dwarf spheroidal",
      "stellar distance indicators",
      "local group galaxies",
      "acquired rrl phase points",
      "population"
    ],
    "note": {
      "typesetting": "TeX",
      "pages": 16,
      "language": "en",
      "license": "arXiv",
      "status": "editable"
    }
  }
}