The Distance Measurement of NGC 1313 with Cepheids

Abstract

We present the detection of Cepheids in the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1313, using the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 on the Hubble Space Telescope. Twenty B(F450W) and V(F555W) epochs of observations spanning over three weeks were obtained, on which the profile-fitting photometry of all stars in the monitored field was performed using the package HSTphot. A sample of 26 variable stars have been identified to be Cepheids, with periods between 3 and 14 days. Based on the derived period-luminosity relations in B- and V-bands, we obtain an extinction-corrected distance modulus of μ_{NGC 1313} = 28.32 ± 0.08 (random) ± 0.06 (systematic), employing the Large Magellanic Cloud as the distance zero point calibrator. The above moduli correspond to a distance of 4.61 ± 0.17 (random) ±0.13 (systematic) Mpc, consistent with previous measurements reported in the literature within uncertainties. In addition, the reddening to NGC 1313 is found to be small.