We present adaptive optics ( AO ) , near-infrared images of the central starburst region of the Local Group dwarf irregular IC 10 .
The Keck 2 telescope laser guide star facility was used to achieve near diffraction limited performance at H and K ^ { \prime } with Strehl ratios of 18 % and 32 % , respectively .
The images are centered on the putative Wolf-Rayet ( W-R ) object [ MAC92 ] 24 .
Photometry from AO images can be subject to large systematic errors ( \simeq 1 mag . )
due to uncertainties in the point spread functions ( PSFs ) and the associated encircled energy curves caused by Strehl variations .
However , IC 10 presents a rich star field , and therefore we are able to use the Fourier power spectrum method of Sheehy , McCrady and Graham ( ApJ , 647 , 1517 ) to reconstruct the photometric curve of growth from the data themselves , and thereby reduce the magnitude of the systematic errors in our photometry to \leq 0.04 mag .
We combine our ground-based images with an F814W image obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope .
By comparing the K ^ { \prime } versus [ F814W ] - K ^ { \prime } color-magnitude diagram for the IC10 field with theoretical isochrones , we find that the stellar population is best represented by at least two bursts of star formation , one \sim 10 Myr ago and one significantly older ( 150 - 500 Myr ) .
The young , blue stars are centered around and concentrated in the vicinity of [ MAC92 ] 24 .
We suggest that this population represents the resolved components of an OB association with a half-light radius of about 3 pc .
We resolve the W-R object [ MAC92 ] 24 itself into at least six blue stars .
Four of these components have near-IR colors and luminosities that make them robust WN star candidates .
By matching the location of Carbon stars in the color-magnitude diagram with those in the SMC we derive a distance modulus for IC 10 of about 24.5 mag and a foreground reddening of E ( B - V ) = 0.95 .
We find a more precise distance by locating the tip of the giant branch in the F814W , H , and K ^ { \prime } luminosity functions for IC 10 .
We find a weighted mean distance modulus ( m - M ) _ { 0 } = 24.48 \pm 0.08 .
The systematic error in this measurement , due to a possible difference in the properties of the RGB populations in IC 10 and the SMC , is \pm 0.16 mag .