A Tip of the Red Giant Branch Distance to the Dark Matter Deficient Galaxy NGC 1052-DF4 from Deep Hubble Space Telescope Data

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that the large, diffuse galaxies NGC 1052-DF2 and NGC 1052-DF4 both have populations of unusually luminous globular clusters as well as a very low dark matter content. Here we present newly obtained deep Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys imaging of one of these galaxies, NGC 1052-DF4. We use these data to measure the distance of the galaxy from the location of the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB). We find a rapid increase in the number of detected stars fainter than m(F814W) similar to 27.3, which we identify as the onset of the red giant branch. Using a forward modeling approach that takes the photometric uncertainties into account, we find a TRGB magnitude of m(F814W,TRGB) = 27.47 +/- 0.16. The inferred distance, including the uncertainty in the absolute calibration, is D-TRGB = 20.0 +/- 1.6 Mpc. The TRGB distance of NGC 1052-DF4 is consistent with the previously determined surface brightness fluctuation distance of D-SBF = 18.7 +/- 1.7 Mpc to NGC 1052-DF2 and is consistent with the distance of the bright elliptical galaxy NGC 1052. We conclude that the unusual properties of these galaxies cannot be explained by distance errors.