Abstract

We obtained HST/WFPC2 images of the dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies K61, K63, K64, DDO78, BK6N, and kk77 in the M81 group. Our color-magnitude diagrams show red giant branches with tips (TRGB) falling within the range of I = [23.8 - 24.0] mag. The derived true distance moduli (DM) of the 6 dSphs ranging from 27.71 to 27.93 mag are consistent with their membership in the group. Given accurate distances of 5 other group members, which have been derived via TRGB or cepheids, the mean DM of the M81 group is (27.84 +/- 0.05) mag. We find the difference of the mean distances to the M81 and NGC 2403 groups to be D(M81) - D(NGC2403) = (0.5 + 0.2) Mpc, which yields a deprojected separation of 0.9 Mpc. With respect to the Local group, M81 and NGC 2403 have radial velocities of 106 and 267 km s(-1) respectively, while the velocities of the group centroids are 142 and 281 km s(-1). The higher velocity of the closer system may indicate that these groups are moving towards each other, similar to the Milky Way and M31 in the Local group. Several globular cluster candidates have been identified in the galaxies.