KKH 22, the first dwarf spheroidal satellite of IC 342

Abstract

Aims. We present observations with the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope of the nearby dwarf spheroidal galaxy KKH 22 = LEDA 2807114 in the vicinity of the massive spiral galaxy IC 342. Methods. We derived its distance of 3.12 ± 0.19 Mpc using the tip of red giant branch (TRGB) method. We also used the 6 m BTA spectroscopy to measure a heliocentric radial velocity of the globular cluster in KKH 22 to be +30 ± 10 km s−1. Results. The dSph galaxy KKH 22 has the V-band absolute magnitude of –12.m19 and the central surface brightness μv, 0 = 24.1m/□″. Both the velocity and the distance of KKH 22 are consistent with the dSph galaxy being gravitationally bound to IC 342. Another nearby dIr galaxy, KKH 34, with a low heliocentric velocity of +106 km s−1 has the TRGB distance of 7.28 ± 0.36 Mpc residing in the background with respect to the IC 342 group. KKH 34 has a surprisingly high negative peculiar velocity of –236 ± 26 km s−1.