The irregular magellanic galaxy NGC 2366 is usually assumed to belong to the M 81/ NGC 2403 group. (B − V)-V and (V − R)-V photometric diagrams of its stellar content are presented. Using its brightest blue and red stars, its distance is estimated to be about 3.0 Mpc.

Introduction

For some time now, a considerable effort has been devoted to the analysis of the stellar content of nearby galaxies through the photometry of their resolved stars. These data, combined with spectroscopic and radio observations, provide interesting information about the history of the star formation and about the star formation processes in galaxies. The understanding of these processes is relevant, since they define the path followed by the galaxy through its evolution.

Our project is devoted to the analysis of the stellar content in nearby galaxies and is included in the GEFE project.

We present the first results of our photometric analysis of NGC 2366. This galaxy is usually assumed to belong to the M 81–NGC 2403 group. Table 1, summarizes the global parameters of NGC 2366.

Data and results

Observations of the stellar content of NGC 2366 were carried out in 1992 using the 1150 × 1250 EEV5 chip at the prime focus of the 2.5-m Isaac Newton Telescope of the Observatory of Roque de los Muchachos in La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain). The limiting magnitudes, are about B = 22.1, V = 23.2 and R = 22.9 (defined as those for which 50% of the stars are lost).