Hubble Space TelescopeImaging of the WR 38/WR 38a Cluster

We are conducting a high angular resolution imaging survey of GalacticWolf-Rayet stars using the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 aboard the HubbleSpace Telescope. We have found a small stellar cluster associated with thefaint, close pair WR 38 and WR 38a. We present astrometric measurements andphotometry in the wide-band F336W (U), F439W (B), and F555W (V) filter systemfor these cluster and nearby stars. We compare their colors and magnitudes withcalibrated model results for reddened stars to identify seven probable mainsequence members of the cluster. A least-squares fit of the colors andmagnitudes of this set yields a cluster reddening of E(B-V) = 1.45 +/- 0.14 magand a distance of 3.7^{+3.8}_{-1.2} kpc. We discuss the relationship of thiscluster to other objects along the line of sight, and we argue that thedistance probably lies in the range 5 - 8 kpc (but is not as great as 14.5 kpcdistance recently advocated by Shorlin, Turner, & Pedreros). At a distance of 8kpc, the cluster would reside in a dense region of the Carina spiral arm, closeto a giant molecular cloud and the starburst cluster NGC 3603.Comment: Submitted to AJ, 24 pages, 3 figures Content is significantly change