sampled by this data set to provide a precise distance estimate. At fainter magnitudes, the rising giant branch is significantly wider (FWHM$_{V-I}\sim 0.6$ mag down to $M_I\sim-1.0$) than can be accounted for by photometric uncertainties, again due to a metallicity spread. There is little evidence for an extended or even a red horizontal branch, but we find a strong clump on the giant branch itself, as expected for the high metallicities inferred from the giant branch. If the age spread is not extreme, the distribution of metallicities in M32 is considerably narrower than that of the closed-box model of chemical evolution, and also appears somewhat narrower than that of the solar neighborhood. Overall, the M32 [*HST*]{} color-magnitude diagram is consistent with the average luminosity-weighted age of 8.5 Gyr and \[Fe/H\]$\approx-0.25$ inferred from integrated spectral indices, extrapolated to the same radius and analyzed with the same population models.
author:
- 'Carl J. Grillmair'
- 'Tod R. Lauer'
- Guy Worthey
- 'S. M. Faber'
- 'Wendy L. Freedman'
- 'Barry F. Madore'
- 'Edward A. Ajhar'
- 'William A. Baum'
- 'Jon A. Holtzman'
- 'C. Roger Lynds'
- 'Earl J. O’Neil, Jr.'
- 'Peter B. Stetson'
title: '[*Hubble Space Telescope*]{} 