A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION OF THE DISTANCE TO THE SUPERNOVA REMNANT CTB109 AND ITS PULSAR AXP J2301+5852

CTB109 is one of only three Galactic supernova remnants (SNRs) known to harbor an anomalous X-ray pulsar or magnetar. That makes this SNR an object of great importance and a prime target for high-energy astrophysics studies. Those studies rely heavily on the assumed distance to CTB109. There have been three major distance determinations over the last decade, all of which report completely different results. While chaotic distance determinations in the literature are not uncommon for SNRs as a class of object, the wild discrepancy in the distance to CTB109 makes it especially important to revisit and firmly resolve once and for all. In this Letter we bring to bear all available observational information and present a synthesis of evidence that consistently locates CTB109 within or close to the Perseus arm spiral shock, at a distance of 3.2 +/- 0.2 kpc.