We present a new determination of the distance ( and age ) of the Galactic globular cluster 47 Tucanae ( NGC 104 ) based on the fit of its white dwarf ( WD ) cooling sequence with the empirical fiducial sequence of local WD with known trigonometric parallax , following the method described in Renzini et al .
( 1996 ) .
Both the cluster and the local WDs were imaged with HST+WFPC2 using the same instrument setup .
We obtained an apparent distance modulus of ( m - M ) _ { V } = 13.27 \pm 0.14 consistent with previous ground-based determinations and shorter than that found using HIPPARCOS subdwarfs .
Coupling our distance determination with a new measure of the apparent magnitude of the main sequence turnoff , based on our HST data , we derive an age of 13 \pm 2.5 Gyr .