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D. B. Zucker (U. Washington / MPIA Heidelberg)
I present optical and infrared images and optical spectra of IC 10 obtained with the Apache Point Observatory 3.5m telescope. I also analyze archival HST optical images of a portion of the galaxy. Using these data, I address several questions important to future work on IC 10. From reddening maps and values in the literature I derive a value of E(B - V) = 0.77 for the foreground reddening toward IC 10, although extinction toward objects within IC 10 can be much higher. Using the tip of the red giant branch method on HST photometry, I obtain a distance modulus of ~24.4, which is reasonably consistent with Cepheid-based published values of ~24.6. I present light curves of the variable stars identified by Saha et al. (1996), and discuss the nature of what those authors termed Cepheid-like variables. Comparing hot stellar populations found in groundbased photometry with theoretical isochrones, I find evidence that IC 10 has been actively forming stars for at least the past 100 Myr. The HST photometry goes much deeper, and reveals the presence of substantial populations at least 3 Gyr, and possibly more than 10 Gyr old.