Abstract
Two different and extensive wide-field imaging surveys for Cepheid variables have been made in the Sculptor Group galaxy NGC 247 and in the Local Group Irregular galaxy WLM. We present the principal results obtained in this surveys in the context of the Araucaria project. We have discovered 60 Cepheids in WLM and 24 Cepheids in NGC 247. Our data define tight period-luminosity relations in V, I and the reddening-free Wesenheit magnitude W_I which are all extremely well fit by the corresponding slopes of the LMC Cepheid PL relation, suggesting no change of the PL relation slope down to a Cepheid metal abundance of about -1.0 dex, in agreement with other recent studies. We derive a true distance modulus to NGC 247 of 27.80+/-0.09 (r) +/-0.06 (s) mag from our data, in good agreement with the earlier 27.9+/-0.1 mag determination of Davidge (2006, ApJ, 641, 822) from TRGB I band magnitude. The true distance modulus to WLM derived from our data was 25.144+/-0.03 (r) +/-0.07 (s), in good agreement with the earlier 24.92+/-0.21determination of Lee, Freedman, & Madore (1993, ApJ, 417, 553) from Cepheid variables. Aditional information is available in The Araucaria Project homepage (http://ezzelino.ifa.hawaii.edu/ bresolin/Araucaria/index.html) and in the series of papers entitled: The Araucaria Project.
