Abstract
In this paper, we present radio continuum observations of the planetary nebula IC 418 obtained at two epochs separated by more than 20 years using the Very Large Array. These data allow us to show that the angular expansion rate of the ionization front in IC 418 is 5.8±1.5 mas yr^{-1}. If the expansion velocity of the ionization front is equal to the expansion velocity of the gas along the line of sight as measured by optical spectroscopy, then using the value of 30 km s^{-1} for the expansion velocity, we obtained a distance to IC 418 of 1.1±0.3 kpc. If we take into account that the ionization front may be expanding about 20% faster than the material, then the distance to IC 418 would increase to 1.3±0.4 kpc.
