Infrared Tip of the Red Giant Branch and Distances to the Maffei/IC 342 Group

Abstract: In this paper, we extend the use of the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) method to near-infrared wavelengths from previously-used $I$-band, using the \textit{Hubble Space Telescope (HST)} Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Upon calibration of a color dependency of the TRGB magnitude, the IR TRGB yields a random uncertainty of $\sim 5%$ in relative distance. The IR TRGB methodology has an advantage over the previously-used ACS $F606W$ and $F814W$ filter set for galaxies that suffer from severe extinction. Using the IR TRGB methodology, we obtain distances toward three principal galaxies in the Maffei/IC 342 complex, which are located at low Galactic latitudes. New distance estimates using the TRGB method are 3.45$^{+0.13}_{-0.13}$ Mpc for IC 342, 3.37$^{+0.32}_{-0.23}$ Mpc for Maffei 1 and 3.52$^{+0.32}_{-0.30}$ Mpc for Maffei 2. The uncertainties are dominated by uncertain extinction, especially for Maffei 1 and Maffei 2. Our IR calibration demonstrates the viability of the TRGB methodology for observations with the \textit{James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)}.