The distance to the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy

A large multicolour, wide-field photometric data base of the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy has been analysed using three different methods to provide revised distance estimates based on the stellar populations in different age intervals. The distance to Fornax was obtained from the Tip of the Red Giant Branch (TRGB) measured by a new method, and using the luminosity of horizontal branch (HB) stars and red clump (RC) stars corrected for stellar population effects. Assuming a reddening E(B - V) = 0.02, the following distance moduli were derived: (m - M)(0) = 20.71 +/not superset of 0.07 based on the TRGB, (m-M)(0) = 20.72 +/not superset of 0.06 from the level of the HB and (m - M)(0) 20.73 +/not superset of 0.09 using the RC method. The weighted mean distance modulus to Fornax is (m - M)(0) = 20.72 +/not superset of 0.04. All these measurements agree within the errors, and are fully consistent with the previous determinations and with the distance measurements obtained in a companion paper from near-infrared colour-magnitude diagrams.