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 Telescpoe. 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 mu = 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 with uncertainties. In addition, the reddening to NGC 1313 is found to be small.