Context : Distance measurements to astronomical objects are essential for understanding their intrinsic properties .
For asymptotic giant branch ( AGB ) stars it is particularly difficult to derive accurate distance estimates .
Period-luminosity relationships rely on the correlation of different physical properties of the stars , while the angular sizes and variability of AGB stars make parallax measurements inherently inaccurate .
For the carbon AGB star R Sculptoris , the uncertain distance significantly affects the interpretation of observations regarding the evolution of the stellar mass loss during and after the most recent thermal pulse .

Aims : We aim to provide a new , independent measurement of the distance to R Sculptoris , reducing the absolute uncertainty of the distance estimate to this source .

Methods : R Scl is a semi-regular pulsating star , surrounded by a thin shell of dust and gas created during a thermal pulse \approx 2000 years ago .
The stellar light is scattered by the dust particles in the shell at a radius of \approx 19″ .
The variation in the stellar light affects the amount of dust-scattered light with the same period and amplitude ratio , but with a phase lag that depends on the absolute size of the shell .
We measured this phase lag by observing the star R Scl and the dust-scattered stellar light from the shell at five epochs between June – December 2017 .
By observing in polarised light , we imaged the shell in the plane of the sky , removing any uncertainty due to geometrical effects .
The phase lag gives the absolute size of the shell , and together with the angular size of the shell directly gives the absolute distance to R Sculptoris .

Results : We measured a phase lag between the stellar variations and the variation in the shell of 40.0 \pm 4.0 days .
The angular size of the shell is measured to be 19 \aas@@fstack { \prime \prime } 1 \pm 0 \aas@@fstack { \prime \prime } 7 .
Combined , this gives an absolute distance to R Sculptoris of 361 \pm 44 pc .

Conclusions : We independently determined the absolute distance to R Scl with an uncertainty of 12 % .
The estimated distance is consistent with previous estimates , but is one of the most accurate distances to the source to date .
In the future , using the variations in polarised , dust-scattered stellar light , may offer an independent possibility to measure reliable distances to AGB stars .