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the spiral galaxy maffei  2 was first detected by paolo maffei in 1968 on a near - infrared schmidt plate @xcite . recent @xmath8-band photometry of this galaxy reveals a large highly - inclined barred spiral of hubble type sbc with isophotes visible out to @xmath10 from the nucleus @xcite . if the galaxy lies within 2 - 6 mpc as suggested in previous studies @xcite , it must be among the dominant galaxies in our galactic neighbourhood , which raises the question of its dynamical role in the early evolution of the local group . unfortunately , a precise distance to maffei  2 has remained elusive owing to the heavy obscuration by dust in the milky way disk associated with its low galactic latitude ( @xmath11 ) . attempts to determine the galactic extinction have so far produced ambiguous results : @xcite derived a value of @xmath12  mag by comparing the nuclear spectrum with that of m31 , and estimated that the galaxy suffers more extinction than the giant elliptical maffei  1 by about 1 magnitude in @xmath13 . however , a modern estimate of the reddening of maffei  1 has been measured by fingerhut et al . ( 2003 ; hereafter @xcite ) using a well - defined correlation between the @xmath14 index and @xmath15 colour . they find @xmath16  mag , which is over 1.5  mag lower than the result reported by @xcite . there is clearly a need to revisit the problem of the galactic extinction of maffei  2 before an attempt can be made to determine its distance .    in this study , we derive the extragalactic extinction of maffei  2 using a relationship among spiral galaxies between the extragalactic extinction of hii regions and the column density of extragalactic hydrogen gas along the line of sight of the hii regions . the correlation arises because the bulk of the extragalactic extinction of an hii region is due to dust outside the region of emitting gas , where the extinguishing material is widely distributed and well - mixed with hydrogen gas @xcite . a correlation between @xmath17 and the annular - averaged column density of hi has been observed in both ngc  2403 @xcite and ic  342 @xcite , substantiating the above claims . using a sample of giant extragalactic hii regions in late - type spirals , we construct the dust gas relation and use it to determine the extragalactic extinction of two hii regions in maffei  2 . by subtracting the extragalactic extinction from the total extinction of the hii regions derived from their balmer decrements , we obtain a measurement of the galactic extinction . in deriving the galactic extinction in various bandpasses , we account for shifts in the effective wavelengths of broadband filters , which can be significant for highly reddened galaxies ( see * ? ? ? * ) . to check the validity of our result , we use the method applied to maffei  2 to obtain the galactic extinction of the nearby late - type spiral ic  342 , for which an accurate independent estimate is available owing to its more moderate obscuration . armed with the extinction to maffei  2 , we determine its distance using the tully - fisher relation constructed in the @xmath8-band .    our observations of hii regions in maffei  2 and ic 342 are presented in [ observations ] and reductions are outlined in   [ reductions ] . in   [ measurements ] , we describe the measurements of the total extinctions ( galactic plus extragalactic ) and the hydrogen column densities for the observed hii regions . in   [ extinction ] , we construct the relation between dust and gas and use it to determine the galactic extinction of maffei  2 and ic  342 . in   [ distance ] , we re - determine zero - points for the extragalactic distance scale in a self - consistent fashion . we then derive the tully - fisher distance to maffei  2 as well as a revised distance to ic  342 using recent observations of cepheids by @xcite . the revised properties of both galaxies in addition to maffei  1 are presented in   [ implications ] and the implications for the local group are discussed . long  slit spectroscopic observations of two hii regions in maffei  2 were obtained on 1997 march 2 and 3 ut with the ritchey chrtien spectrograph on the mayall 4m telescope at kitt peak national observatory . observations were optimized to detect both @xmath18  and @xmath19  emission to determine the extinction toward maffei  2 . the t2 kb 2048@xmath202048 ccd with 24  @xmath0 m pixels was used in combination with the kpc10-a grating for wavelength coverage between 3500    and 7600    at 7    resolution . the spatial scale at the focal plane was 0 per pixel . the slit was set to a width of 2  and aligned in the north  south direction . the slit was placed over the southwest portion of maffei  2 at the position of the brightest hii region ( * ? ? ? two individual clumps were also detected within a second hii region at the position of object number 2 in @xcite . two 1800second exposures were taken on the night of march 2 , and an additional three 1800second exposures were obtained the following night . the effective air masses for the first and second night were 1.65 and 1.54 , respectively . inspection of a single 1800second dark frame showed that the total dark count rate was negligible compared to the sky . internal and twilight flats were obtained to correct for variations over small and large spatial scales , respectively , on the ccd . henear arc lamp spectra were used for wavelength calibration . flux calibrations were achieved by observing the standard stars feige  67 and g191b2b @xcite . standard star exposures were interspersed among object exposures over a range of airmasses spanning those of maffei  2 . in addition to the maffei 2 observations , spectrophotometry of two hii regions in ic  342 was carried out to augment existing data for that galaxy . the spectra were acquired on 1992 january 28 ut with the 2.3-m f/9 bok telescope and boller and chivens spectrograph at steward observatory . the detector was a texas instruments @xmath21 ccd with @xmath22 square pixels . observations were made in first order with a 300 lines  @xmath23 grating blazed at @xmath24 . the grating was rotated to give coverage from 4300 to @xmath25 , over which the dispersion was @xmath26 . the slit was opened up to @xmath27 to enable absolute calibration of line fluxes and to negate the possibility of errors in line ratios as a result of differential refraction . precise pointing was guaranteed by rotating the slit to a position angle ( @xmath28 ) which admitted the light of a reference star only when the hii region was centered . a single 1800-second exposure was acquired , in which @xmath18 and @xmath29\lambda 6584 $ ] were clearly resolved . in order to minimize the effects of flexure on flat fielding , a spectrum of an internal quartz lamp was acquired at the same location immediately following the target exposure . a helium - argon lamp was observed at a comparable position to calibrate the wavelength scale . a spectrum of twilight was acquired at the beginning of the night to map out the illumination pattern . to calibrate fluxes , the standard stars hiltner 102 , feige 15 , g191b2b , and hd  84937 were observed with the same wide slit as employed for the hii regions . the maffei  2 spectra were reduced using standard iraf routines . reductions were carried out separately for each night . the object and flat field frames were overscan  corrected and bias  corrected . the internal flat and sky flat frames were combined to produce a single internal flat frame and a single averaged sky flat frame . the averaged sky flat frame was corrected for pixel - to - pixel variations in response using a normalized internal flat frame . an illumination image was created from the processed sky flat to correct for the slit function . then , each object frame was corrected by dividing the product of the illumination image and normalized internal flat . with two - dimensional fits to the arc spectra , geometric distortions were corrected so that the dispersion axis was made perpendicular to the spatial axis . spectra of the two standard stars were combined to calibrate fluxes . air mass corrections were derived using a mean atmospheric extinction curve for kpno . the five maffei  2 spectral exposures were then aligned , shifted , and combined into a single spectral frame . the ic  342 spectra were reduced using standard iraf routines in a similar manner as for the maffei  2 spectra . final one - dimensional flux - calibrated spectra were obtained via unweighted summed extractions . table  [ tablines ] lists the observed flux ratios relative to @xmath30 for the hii regions observed in maffei  2 and ic  342 . the extinction of a source is best quantified by its optical depth at some wavelength . knowing optical depth , it is possible to evaluate the extinction in any filter by applying an appropriately scaled reddening law to the spectrum and integrating through the response function for the filter . the best choice of wavelength is 1  @xmath0 m , as it falls in a part of the reddening law which is not very sensitive to environment , and because the optical depth there is comparable numerically to @xmath31 ( see * ? ? ? the total extinction ( galactic plus extragalactic ) of an hii region can be determined from the degree to which the observed @xmath32 ratio differs from the theoretical intrinsic ratio . the optical depth at 1  @xmath0 m ( @xmath33 ) can be computed from @xmath34/(r^1_{{\ensuremath{\rm h\alpha } } } - r^1_{{\ensuremath{\rm h\beta}}})\ ] ] where @xmath35 is the intrinsic balmer ratio , @xmath36  is the observed balmer ratio corrected for underlying stellar absorption , and @xmath37 and @xmath38 are the reddening coefficients normalized to @xmath33 ( i.e. , @xmath39 , where @xmath40 is the extinction corresponding to @xmath33 at the wavelength @xmath41 ) . to estimate the reddening coefficients , we require a monochromatic extinction curve appropriate for the diffuse interstellar medium , which is primarily responsible for obscuring extragalactic sources . @xcite has developed an algorithm for determining the monochromatic reddening law associated with any particular value of the ratio of total to selective extinction , @xmath42 . for the diffuse interstellar medium , @xmath43 for a star of zero colour in the limit of zero extinction @xcite . the reddening law chosen to evaluate the reddening coefficients is that given by the algorithm of @xcite which , when applied to the spectrum of vega , yields @xmath44 after integrating the flux passed by response curves characterizing the @xmath45 and @xmath13 filters . the resulting balmer coefficients are @xmath46 and @xmath47 . the intrinsic balmer ratio @xmath35 for each hii region was estimated from the emissivities of @xcite . an initial approximation for @xmath33  was derived from eq . [ eqtau ] using @xmath48 , which was computed by assuming a temperature of 8000  k and an electron density of 100  @xmath49 , these being typical values for giant extragalactic hii regions @xcite . then , the approximation for @xmath33  was used to correct @xmath50 } \lambda3727$]/@xmath19and @xmath51 } \lambda5007$]/@xmath19  for reddening using reddening coefficients @xmath52 and @xmath53 computed in the same manner as for @xmath18  and @xmath19 . the corrected oxygen line ratios were used to estimate the oxygen abundance , @xmath54 , via the semi - empirical calibration of @xcite . next , @xmath55  was used to obtain an improved approximation of the hii region temperature using the theoretical correlations between electron temperature and oxygen abundance formulated by @xcite . the correlations are parameterized by the volume - averaged ionization parameter ( @xmath56 ) and the upper mass limit for the ionizing stars . however , in the oxygen abundance range inhabited by the reference hii regions ( @xmath57 ) , the relations converge to straight lines of nearly - identical slope with a spread of approximately @xmath58  k for intermediate values of @xmath56 , which are typical of observed hii regions @xcite . thus , the temperature ( t ) in kelvins is given by @xmath59 eq . [ eqtemp ] was used to derive the next approximation of @xmath35 , which was then substituted back into eq . [ eqtau ] to obtain the next estimate of @xmath33 . this process was iterated until @xmath35 , and thereby @xmath33 , converged . table  [ tabhiiex ] lists the observed and intrinsic fluxes as well as the oxygen abundances , temperatures and total extinctions found for the hii regions in maffei  2 and ic  342 . the surface brightnesses of hi 21-cm and co 2.6-mm line radiation are traced by atomic and molecular hydrogen gas , respectively , which is distributed all the way from the far side to the near side of a galaxy . in the milky way , the scale heights of the hi and @xmath60 gas are @xmath61  pc and @xmath62  pc , respectively @xcite . the hii regions , being associated with the young stellar population , are confined to a layer with a scale height of only @xmath63  pc @xcite . the column density of extragalactic gas in the foreground of an hii region can therefore be approximated as half the column density of hydrogen derived from observations of hi and co along the line of sight , with some scatter caused by deviations in position from the exact mid - plane and by concentrations of dust in the immediate vicinity of the hii region . thus , the hydrogen column density @xmath64 in atoms @xmath65 along the line of sight is given by @xmath66 where @xmath67  and @xmath68  are the column densities of hi and @xmath69 respectively . the @xmath68  term is doubled to preserve the proportionality between the number of dust particles and hydrogen atoms . the annular - averaged column densities of hi at the de - projected radii of the two hii regions in maffei  2 were measured from the hi radial profile of @xcite . the co ( j=1 - 0 ) intensities at the locations of the hii regions were obtained from the radial profile provided by mason & wilson ( private communication ; see also @xcite ) . for ic  342 , the hi column densities and co intensities at the locations of the hii regions were measured from the radial profiles of @xcite and @xcite , respectively .    the conversion from co intensity ( @xmath70 ) to @xmath60 column density was found to have a metallicity dependence in independent studies by @xcite and @xcite . the conversion relation adopted here is from the former source , in which measurements of @xmath71 and @xmath72 are determined in a homogeneous manner by applying the virial theorem to individual molecular clouds in nearby spiral and dwarf irregular galaxies . for each hii region , the conversion factor ( @xmath73 ) along with the hi and @xmath60 column densities are summarized in table  [ tabhiiex ] . we have constructed the relationship between extragalactic extinction and hydrogen column density for a sample of 74 reference hii regions in 10 spirals of type sbc and scd . we have restricted our sample to galaxies for which ( 1 ) the galactic extinction is small and thus well - known ( i.e. , @xmath74  mag ) ; ( 2 ) the radial profile of hi has been determined from aperture synthesis maps ; and ( 3 ) there is a published radial profile of the co ( j=1 - 0 ) line . we have further required that the constituent hii regions be non - nuclear to insure the reliability of abundance calibrations , where `` non - nuclear '' is defined here as having a radius greater than 15% of the host galaxy s disk scale length . in addition , we have rejected any hii region located beyond the radial boundaries of the hi maps . lastly , all hii regions were required to have measurements of the flux at @xmath18  and @xmath19as well as the equivalent width of the @xmath19  emission line in order to account for the depression of balmer emission by underlying balmer absorption from stars ( for typical hii regions , the equivalent width of @xmath18  emission is so strong that the correction to the @xmath18  flux is negligible ) . the galaxies meeting the above criteria are listed in table  [ tabspi ] . the total extinctions of the reference hii regions were derived in a manner consistent with those employed for maffei  2 and ic  342 ( see   [ s_extot ] ) . several of the hii regions were missing measurements for the oxygen line fluxes as a consequence of poor signal - to - noise . their temperatures were determined from a correlation between temperature and galactocentric radius found for the hii regions for which oxygen line fluxes were available . as can be seen in fig . [ figtr ] , the slope and intercept of the correlation appear to have a dependence on spiral morphology in the sense that hii regions in late - type spirals have higher temperatures . we therefore adopt two linear fits ; one for the spirals of type sbc and one for those of type scd . the fits are described by @xmath75 @xmath76 where t is in kelvins and @xmath77 is the deprojected galactocentric distance of the hii region normalized to the host galaxy s disk scale length . the root - mean - square ( rms ) deviations for the sbc and scd samples are 562  k and 934  k , respectively . the extragalactic extinction of each hii region ( quantified by @xmath78 ) was extracted from the total extinction ( @xmath79 ) observed in the balmer decrement ( eq .  [ eqtau ] ) by subtracting the galactic extinction ( @xmath80 ) derived from the galactic reddenings of ( * ? ? ? * hereafter sfd ) . for each host galaxy , we computed @xmath80  from @xmath31 using the iterative process outlined in @xcite . briefly , the integrated spectral energy distribution ( sed ) of a typical unreddened elliptical galaxy was extinguished by successive approximations of @xmath80  with the aid of the scaled monochromatic reddening law described in   [ s_extot ] . the application of this process was greatly facilitated by the york extinction solver  ( yes ) . the total gas column density ( @xmath64 ) at the location of each reference hii region was determined according to the procedure outlined in   [ s_gas ] . the gas column densities and extinctions of the hii regions are provided in table  [ tabhii ] along with the sources of the hi and co data . the correlation between @xmath78  and @xmath64 is shown in fig . [ figdust ] and does not appear to depend on spiral morphology within the range sbc to scd . we have therefore adopted the following linear least - squares fit to the entire reference dataset : @xmath81 where @xmath82  is in units of @xmath83 . the rms deviation in @xmath78  is 0.17 . [ eqdust ] improves upon the dust gas relation found previously by @xcite by expanding the hii region sample to include recent observations , by excluding ngc  6946 due to its high galactic extinction , and by including @xmath60 in the gas diagnostic . this last step has reduced the scatter considerably . the error in an estimate of @xmath78  for an hii region from eq . [ eqdust ] can be computed from @xmath84 ^ 2 + \sigma_{{\ensuremath{\tau_1}}}^2/n\ ] ] @xmath85 is the standard error associated with @xmath86 , the slope of the dust gas correlation ( eq .  [ eqdust ] ) . @xmath87 is the measurement error associated with the estimate of @xmath64 for the hii region . @xmath88 is the rms deviation of 0.17  in @xmath78  of the @xmath89 reference data points about the linear fit . @xmath90 is the mean @xmath82  for the hii region sample , found to be @xmath91 . the measurement uncertainty in @xmath82  for each reference hii region was computed from one half of the quadrature sum of the errors in @xmath67  and 2@xmath68 . the greatest source of uncertainty in a measurement of @xmath82arises from taking the annular average of intensity measurements at a given radius . the uncertainty increases with distance from the nucleus ; the larger the circumference of an annulus , the larger the area of galaxy contained within the annulus , and therefore the greater the possibility of intensity fluctuations . we have derived an expression for this uncertainty by examining the reference galaxies for which measurements of hi were supplied separately for each half of the disk . for a given annulus , the difference between the column densities within each semi - annulus ( @xmath92 ) relative to the mean ( @xmath93 ) is found to be a linear function of the fractional galactocentric radius @xmath77 , with an rms deviation of 0.16 . the uncertainty in a measurement of @xmath67  from an annular - averaged radial distribution can therefore be estimated from @xmath94 adopting this approach , the average error in @xmath67  for the reference hii regions is 15% . the dominant contributions to the uncertainty in @xmath68for each reference hii region are the measurement uncertainty in @xmath95 , for which we find a mean value of 26% , and the uncertainty in the co  to@xmath69conversion factor ( @xmath73 ) . this latter source is dominated by the scatter of @xmath96 in the adopted metallicity relation ( see   [ s_gas ] ) and the measurement uncertainty in the oxygen abundance , for which we adopt 0.2 dex as recommended by @xcite . taking the above sources into account , we find a mean measurement uncertainty in @xmath82  of 19% for the reference hii regions . we note that the mean measurement uncertainty in @xmath82for the sbc galaxies exceeds that found for the scd galaxies by 6% , as a result of the considerably larger uncertainties in @xmath68 . this is likely due to the higher @xmath69  content in the sbc galaxies , as nearly 40% of the scd hii regions are found in regions of negligible co.    the measurement uncertainty in @xmath78  for each hii region is simply the quadrature sum of the uncertainties associated with @xmath79  and @xmath80 . the uncertainty in @xmath79is dominated by the measurement error in the observed @xmath97  flux , given the weak dependence of the intrinsic balmer ratio on temperature . ( the mean error in @xmath35 owing to the temperature estimate was found to be under 2% and was therefore considered negligible . ) the mean measurement error in @xmath36  is 11% , which was computed from the quadrature sum of the signal - to - noise error in the flux and a 10% error arising from the uncertainty in the overall response correction @xcite . the contributions from the uncertainties in the reddening coefficients were found to be negligible . adopting a 0.16 fractional error in @xmath80as recommended by sfd , the mean measurement uncertainty in @xmath78  for the reference hii regions is 0.10 . thus , the scatter of 0.17  in the dust  gas relation may be mostly due to the measurement uncertainties . the scatter above that associated with the measurement errors may be arising from dust concentrated near the hii regions , which is not traced by @xmath64 . the non - zero intercept proves the existence of such localized dust . however , the fact that this scatter does not swamp the dust gas trend implies that the extinction due to this dust is roughly constant among hii regions . a value of @xmath78  obtained from eq . [ eqdust ] therefore includes both the optical depth due to widespread dust in the extragalactic foreground as well as the average optical depth due to dust associated with the star formation regions . the derived extragalactic extinctions for the hii regions in maffei  2 and ic  342 are given in table  [ tabhiiex ] . the quoted errors were derived in the same manner as for the reference hii regions ( see   [ s_err ] ) . we find mean total extinctions of @xmath98 for maffei  2 and @xmath99 for ic  342 . @xcite estimated the total reddening of hot stars in ic  342 from a comparison of the @xmath100 colour of the blue `` plume '' in the colour - magnitude diagram with that of ic  1613 . they obtained @xmath101  mag , corresponding to @xmath102 based on the sed of a b0 v star . their result is consistent within errors with the mean total extinction found for hii regions in ic  342 .    in fig . [ figdust ] , the total extinctions for the heavily obscured hii regions are plotted over the dust  gas correlation found for the reference hii regions . the weighted mean of the extinction offsets of the heavily obscured hii regions imply galactic extinctions of @xmath103 for maffei  2 and @xmath104 for ic  342 . the sfd reddening for ic  342 is @xmath105  mag , which corresponds to a galactic optical depth of @xmath106 according to the treatment outlined in   [ s_gasdust ] . this value is consistent with our estimate of @xmath107 within errors , which validates our extinction analysis in general as well as the extinction estimate for maffei  2 in particular . while sfd caution against the use of their reddening maps for objects within @xmath108 of the galactic plane , the galactic latitude of ic  342 is safely outside this range at @xmath109 . we therefore have no reason to reject the sfd value of @xmath80  for this galaxy , so we adopt the weighted mean of both values , which yields @xmath110 .    the extinction parameters and corrected magnitudes of maffei  2 and ic  342 are given in table  [ tabprop ] . the lower values of the reddening coefficients @xmath111 observed for maffei  2 for each broadband filter @xmath112 are due to shifts in the effective wavelengths of @xmath112 towards the red caused by the higher galactic extinction and inclination . as explained in   [ s_extot ] and   [ s_gasdust ] , analyses in this paper are founded upon a modern framework for handling extinction which eliminates the biases that accompany traditional approaches . as a consequence , zero - points for distance indicators employed in the hst key project on the extragalactic distance scale ( hereafter @xcite ) must be updated using the same approach . specifically , revised distances are required to the ursa major cluster , which defines the tully - fisher ( tf ) relation employed here , and to the coma cluster , which defines the fundamental plane ( fp ) used to determine the distance of maffei 1 in @xcite .    behind the tf and fp calibrations are cepheid distances to nearby galaxies , which in the @xcite are anchored to the large magellanic cloud ( lmc ) . as a result , the period - luminosity ( pl ) relations for the lmc must be re - visited . the @xcite pl relations come from @xcite , and the extinction corrections inherent to the pl relations , which are based on the apparent magnitude of the red clump , are those of @xcite . @xcite presumed that the red clump has a constant absolute magnitude in cousins @xmath8 ( henceforth @xmath113 ) , and that changes in apparent magnitude are due to fluctuations in extinction with respect to some zero - point . the zero - point was determined from colour - magnitude diagrams for an eclipsing binary ( hv 2274 ) and for two young open clusters . it appears that a reddening law for the lmc @xcite was used to define @xmath31 for each of these sources ( see * ? ? ? * ) , but the determination of corrections to @xmath31 from red - clump magnitude fluctuations and the conversion of total reddenings to extinctions in @xmath13 and @xmath113 were based upon extinction coefficients tabulated by @xcite , which are founded upon the broadband reddening law of @xcite for the milky way .    fortunately , the mean reddening of the cepheids behind the @xcite pl relations , @xmath114  mag ( range 0.11 to 0.20 mag ) , is very close to the value measured for the objects defining the zero - point ( 0.13 to 0.15 mag ) . this means that red - clump adjustments to the cepheid extinctions amount to second - order corrections , and any errors in these adjustments ought to average out . thus , red clump stars are of less concern than the matter of what sets the zero - point . the reddening that @xcite adopted for the binary was @xmath115  mag @xcite . however , @xcite derived @xmath116  mag by simultaneously solving for atmospheric temperatures and the interstellar extinction curve . in making their determination , @xcite incorporated photometry from @xcite . this removed the reddening degeneracy which afflicted a preliminary determination criticized by @xcite . the result of @xcite has to be taken very seriously because the sed , reddening law , and colour excess are not only consistent with the lmc environment , but also consistent with each other . it is concluded that the @xmath31 scale of @xcite is too high by @xmath117 .    correcting for the change in the reddening zero - point , one gets @xmath118  mag for the mean reddening of lmc cepheid fields as tracked by early - type stars . this is close to the value ( 0.10 mag ) adopted by @xcite .    according to @xcite , @xmath119  mag is the galactic reddening based upon what is observed in annuli around the lmc . with the rest - frame elliptical sed of @xcite and the reddening law of @xcite tuned to give @xmath120 for vega , the optical depth of galactic dust toward the lmc at @xmath121 is @xmath122 . adopting the sed b12 iii of @xcite for the stars in hv  2274 , a heliocentric velocity of 265  @xmath123@xcite and the reddening law of @xcite for dust inside the lmc , the mean value @xmath118  mag for the cepheid fields leads to an optical depth @xmath124 for dust `` localized '' in the lmc . in turn , applying the redshift and optical depths to seds of cepheids , which here are adopted to be g0 supergiants based upon the periods ( there is hardly any difference in results between f8 i and g2 i ) , one gets the following sums of galactic extinction , localized extinction , and the difference in k - corrections in @xmath13 and @xmath113 : @xmath125  mag ( versus 0.476 mag from @xcite ) , @xmath126  mag ( versus 0.288 mag from @xcite ) , and @xmath127  mag ( versus 0.147 mag from @xcite ) . this means that the zero - points for the pl relations for the lmc cepheids change as follows . for a distance modulus of 18.50  mag , @xmath128 where p is the period in days .    as the starting point for correcting @xcite cepheid distances , apparent distance moduli @xmath129 in @xmath13 and @xmath130 in @xmath113 recorded in the @xcite were adopted . first , all were corrected to account for the new pl relations for the lmc ( i.e. , the revised extinction zero - point for lmc cepheids ) . next , foreground values of @xmath31 from @xcite were converted to @xmath80  by applying the reddening law of @xcite ( tuned to give @xmath131 for vega ) to the rest - frame elliptical sed of @xcite . values of @xmath78  were derived individually for each galaxy from @xmath132 , the redshift , and the sed of a g0 supergiant ( a cepheid ) , again using the reddening law of @xcite . then , values of galactic extinction , @xmath133 , localized extinction , @xmath134 , and the k - correction , @xmath135 , were computed . the corrections were subtracted from @xmath130 to arrive at corrected distance moduli @xmath136 on a scale where the distance modulus of the lmc is 18.50 mag . note that @xmath137 can reach as high as 0.009 mag for a virgo cluster galaxy , so k - corrections are just starting to become relevant [ @xmath137 , of course , affects the determination of @xmath78  via @xmath138 . despite all the revisions , cepheid distances increased by only @xmath139  mag on average .    as in the @xcite , metallicity - corrected distance moduli @xmath140 were computed from oxygen abundances @xmath141 estimated from hii regions via the calibration of @xmath142 } \lambda3727}}+{\ensuremath{{\rm [ o iii ] } \lambda4959}}+{\ensuremath{{\rm [ o iii ] } \lambda5007}})/{\ensuremath{\rm h\beta}}$ ] provided by @xcite . formally , @xmath143 where @xmath144 from @xcite , @xmath145 and @xmath146 . the adopted value of @xmath147 is slightly more negative than that employed in the @xcite . @xcite specify the cepheid calibrators used to establish the zero - point for the tf relation and in turn distances to the ursa major and coma clusters . besides correcting the cepheid distances , magnitudes for both the calibrators and the cluster galaxies must be re - computed using a self - consistent approach to extinction . to make this possible , s. sakai ( personal communication ) provided the apparent magnitudes and corrections employed in the @xcite . in the process , an error in the @xcite galactic extinction corrections was found ; the @xmath113-band correction for all tf galaxies was accidentally set to 59% of the desired value .    for each cepheid calibrator , new estimates of the galactic extinction and the k - correction were computed from the value of @xmath31 given by @xcite and the redshift using the sed of @xcite closest to the revised hubble type of the calibrator , adjusted appropriately for tilt . the internal extinction corrections of @xcite were retained . with weights set by the random uncertainties in the absolute magnitudes , the mean offset between the new and old absolute magnitudes amounts to @xmath148    improved galactic extinction and k - corrections for ursa major galaxies were computed from the mean value of @xmath31 ( from @xcite ) and redshift , which were judged from the mean cluster coordinates and velocity recorded by @xcite . to this end , the sbc sed of @xcite was adopted , adjusted to the mean tilt and luminosity of the local calibrators . for consistency with the calibrators , the corrections for internal extinction adopted by @xcite were retained . with @xmath149  mag and a heliocentric velocity of 899 @xmath123 , the weighted mean offset between the new and old apparent magnitudes corrected for galactic extinction , redshift , and internal extinction amounts to @xmath150 the revisions to apparent and absolute magnitudes lead to an offset in the distance modulus for ursa major of @xmath151    the distance modulus for ursa major determined by @xcite was 31.58 mag , so the revised distance modulus comes out to be @xmath152  mag for an lmc distance modulus of 18.50 mag . the quoted error is the random error in the zero - point of the tf relation . the distance to the coma cluster adopted in this paper is the mean of results from the tf relation and the fp . the revision to the tf distance for coma was undertaken in exactly the same manner as that for ursa major . apparent magnitudes shift as follows : @xmath153 combining this with the absolute magnitude shift computed above for the cepheid calibrators , the distance modulus shifts by @xmath154 since @xcite derived a distance modulus of 34.74 mag , the new distance modulus for coma works out to be @xmath155  mag , where the uncertainty is the random error in the zero - point of the tf relation . the fp analysis for the @xcite was conducted by @xcite . for any particular galaxy , the zero - point of the fp is defined by @xmath156 where @xmath157 is the effective metric radius ( of an @xmath158 law ) , @xmath159 is the velocity dispersion , and @xmath160 is the mean surface brightness within the effective radius . of course , one does not measure @xmath157 , but rather @xmath161 , the effective radius in angular units . if @xmath157 is replaced by @xmath161 , variations in @xmath162 from galaxy to galaxy arise from variations in distance . the fiducial value of @xmath162 was defined using the leo group and the virgo and fornax clusters , in which cepheid calibrators are located . revisions to extinction or to k - corrections affect @xmath162 through @xmath160 and through @xmath157 , the latter being determined by the distances assigned to the reference clusters ( which depend upon the treatment of cepheids ) . photometry in @xmath13 was used to define @xmath162 for leo , virgo and fornax , and photometry in gunn @xmath163 was used to define @xmath162 for the coma cluster . revising extinction estimates as recommended by @xcite , and computing k - corrections self - consistently , the changes to @xmath160 decrease the weighted mean value of @xmath162 for the calibrating clusters by @xmath164 and decrease the value of @xmath162 for coma by @xmath165 . the revised cepheid analysis described above moves the distance moduli for leo , virgo and fornax farther away by @xmath166 on average with respect to the distance moduli adopted in the @xcite . in this computation , clusters were weighted on the basis of the uncertainty in @xmath162 @xcite . the combination of all effects leads to an increase in the distance modulus of the coma cluster by @xmath167 with respect to the @xcite . on a scale where the distance modulus of the lmc is 18.50 mag , the revised distance modulus to coma becomes @xmath168  mag , where the uncertainty is that due to random errors . the distance moduli for coma derived from the tf relation and the fp differ by only 0.028 mag . we adopt the unweighted average , which is @xmath169  mag .    in this paper , the authors prefer to adopt the maser distance to ngc 4258 as the zero - point for distances , rather than the lmc . this galaxy was among the cepheid calibrators in the @xcite . from the re - analysis above , @xmath170  mag with a random error of 0.07 mag . this is 0.016 mag higher than the @xcite value . from ( * see also @xcite ) , @xmath171  mag , so @xmath172    referencing to the maser zero - point , the distance moduli for ursa major and coma are @xmath173  mag and @xmath174  mag , respectively .    a proper treatment of the shift in the @xcite hubble constant ( @xmath175 ) due to the above extinction corrections would necessitate a re - analysis of the zero - points for @xmath176 distance indicators behind the measurement . since our distance measurements to maffei  2 and ic  342 do not depend on @xmath175 , we do not require a value of @xmath175  on the extinction and distance scale adopted in this paper . however , for the sake of the discussion in [ implications ] in which we compare the new distance to the ic  342/maffei  group with that implied by the hubble flow , we adopt the @xcite value of @xmath177 after ( 1 ) correcting for the mean increase of @xmath178  mag in the distance moduli of the cepheid calibrators due to the extinction corrections described above ; and ( 2 ) correcting for the decrease of 0.236  mag in all @xcite distance moduli due to the shift from the lmc to the maser zero - point . after applying these corrections , we obtain @xmath179 . this value is consistent with the most recent measurement of @xmath180 obtained from the sunyaev - zeldovich effect measured by the chandra x - ray observatory for high - redshift galaxy clusters @xcite , a result which is completely independent of the @xcite . in addition , @xcite use the planetary nebula luminosity function ( pnlf ) to derive a distance to ngc  4258 which is in close agreement with the maser distance and which increases the @xcite value of @xmath175to @xmath181 . the agreement between these two studies substantiates the distance scale adopted in this paper .      for a very long time , studies of maffei  2 were encumbered by the lack of an apparent magnitude . a reliable measurement of the total apparent magnitude of maffei  2 was finally made by @xcite in @xmath8 , which allows application of the tf relation to determine the distance . we require a tf relation in which the luminosity diagnostic is derived from hi rotation curves as opposed to line widths , owing to the contamination of galactic hi in the hi line profile of maffei  2 . as a tf relation of this form was not available in @xmath8 , we constructed the relation from the @xmath8-band photometry and hi synthesis observations of spirals in the ursa major ( uma ) cluster conducted by ( * ? ? ? * hereafter v01 ) . for the distance modulus of uma , we adopted @xmath173  mag ( see   [ s_zp ] ) . of the rotational velocity parameters measured by v01 , we chose the plateau rotational velocity ( @xmath182 ) , defined as the average amplitude of the flat outer region of the rotation curve . v01 found the least scatter in the tf relation constructed from this diagnostic , as opposed to the maximum observed rotational velocity . we restricted our tf analysis to spirals for which @xmath182  could be measured with confidence ( referred to by v01 as the rc / df sample ) . for consistency with the galaxy sample from which our adopted uma distance was derived , we excluded the 6 galaxies from the rc / df sample with i - band tilt corrections greater than 0.6 mag . we also excluded ngc  3992 based on the arguments of v01 that the galaxy may be in the background of uma . our final sample of tf calibrators contains 15 spirals . great care was taken to correct the tf ingredients in the same manner as for maffei  2 . galactic extinctions were computed from sfd reddenings as described in   [ s_gasdust ] . the total @xmath8 magnitude of each galaxy was corrected to its face - on value by employing yes to solve for the internal extinction from the rotational velocity and the apparent axis ratio ( see * ? ? ? k - corrections to the uma photometry were found to be negligible in @xmath8 ( less than 0.01 mag ) . the tf data are given in table  [ tabtf ] and plotted in fig . [ figtf ] .    to construct the tf relation , we followed the treatment of @xcite and determined the slope and zero point using a bivariate linear fit , minimizing errors in both @xmath183 and @xmath9 . as in v01 , we assumed that all galaxies have equal relative uncertainties of 5% in @xmath182  and equal photometric uncertainties of 0.05 mag in @xmath9 . the fit yields @xmath184 with an rms scatter of 0.33  mag in @xmath9 . the scatter is due in large part to the depth of the uma cluster ; the virial radius of 880 kpc @xcite corresponds to a range of 0.21  mag in @xmath9 , which is comparable to the rms deviation over and above the measurement uncertainties . our fit is in close agreement with v01 , who found a slope , zero - point and rms scatter of @xmath185 , @xmath186  mag , and 0.30 mag , respectively , using the same galaxy sample but anchored to a uma distance of 18.6 mpc and employing different correction methods for the galactic and internal extinction . we also note that eq . [ eqtf ] is consistent with the relation found by @xcite for a sample containing both field and cluster galaxies , which demonstrates that the relation does not vary significantly with environment . the tf parameters for maffei  2 are given in table  [ tabtf ] . using our @xmath8-band tf relation ( eq . [ eqtf ] ) , we obtain a distance to maffei  2 of @xmath7  mpc ( @xmath187  mag ) . the random uncertainty is computed from @xmath188 ^ 2 + [ \delta m ( \log{2{\ensuremath{v_{\rm flat}}}}-\langle\log{2{\ensuremath{v_{\rm flat}}}}\rangle)]^2 + \sigma_{m_i}^2/n\ ] ] where @xmath85 is the standard error associated with the slope @xmath86 of the tf relation ( eq .  [ eqtf ] ) , @xmath189 is the uncertainty in the estimate of @xmath190 for maffei  2 , @xmath191 is the rms deviation in @xmath9 of the @xmath192 galaxies in the v01 sample , and @xmath193 is the mean value of @xmath190 for the v01 sample , found to be 2.45 . the systematic uncertainty associated with the calibration of the distance to the uma cluster amounts to 0.13  mag . v01 also measured total @xmath194 magnitudes and report a @xmath194band tf relation with a slightly reduced scatter of 0.26 mag in @xmath195 as opposed to 0.33  mag in @xmath9 . maffei  2 has been observed in @xmath196 by the two micron all sky survey ( 2mass ) , and an estimate of its total magnitude , @xmath197 , is available . however , we find that the values of @xmath197  reported by 2mass for the v01 sample differ considerably from the total @xmath194 magnitudes measured by v01 , with a mean difference of @xmath198  mag and the discrepancy reaching as high as 1.2 mag . the large standard deviation in the residuals reflects a significant difference in the measurement techniques adopted by the two surveys . the v01 total magnitude of a galaxy was obtained by integration of the fit to the growth curve out to infinity , while the 2mass extrapolated magnitude was computed by integration of the fit out to a finite radius judged to contain the extent of the galaxy . hence , the v01 total magnitudes allow for a more meaningful comparison of the integrated properties . further evidence of this is the significantly larger scatter of 0.52  mag found for the tf relation constructed from the 2mass @xmath197  magnitudes for the v01 sample .    in an attempt to derive a transformation from 2mass to v01 magnitudes , we investigated the magnitude residuals as a function of various galaxy parameters . the only dependency we observed is on the apparent @xmath194-band central disk surface brightness , @xmath199 , from @xcite , in the sense that @xmath200 is larger for the galaxies with low surface brightness ( ie . , @xmath201 ) . this is illustrated in fig . [ figresid ] . unfortunately , the large scatter in @xmath200 does not allow for a reliable estimate of a @xmath194 magnitude for maffei  2 from @xmath197 . the lack of a v01 measurement of the total @xmath194 magnitude for maffei  2 therefore precludes a reliable tf distance in this bandpass , so we adopt the @xmath8band value of 3.34  mpc . the small inclination of ic  342 makes it difficult to determine an accurate distance from the tf relation . however , recent observations of cepheids make possible a reliable determination from the pl relation . @xcite observed cepheid variables in ic  342 in thuan - gunn @xmath163 and @xmath202 , deriving a distance modulus of @xmath203  mag and extinction @xmath204  mag . however , the adopted pl relations for @xmath163 and @xmath202 were taken from @xcite , who derived them from the lmc relations for cousins @xmath205 and @xmath8 presented by @xcite , who in fact employed a different @xmath8-band pl relation from that adopted in the @xcite . also , the transformation equations employed to get the pl relations in @xmath163 and @xmath202 @xcite were founded upon johnson @xmath205 and @xmath8 ( hereafter @xmath206 and @xmath207 ) , not cousins @xmath205 and @xmath8 ( hereafter @xmath208 and @xmath113 ) . thus , a re - examination of the cepheid distance is in order . pl relations for the lmc in @xmath206 and @xmath207 have been derived by combining the @xcite relations for @xmath13 and @xmath113 as revised in [ s_zp ] , the period - colour relation for @xmath209 @xcite , and transformation equations connecting @xmath209 to @xmath210 and @xmath211 to @xmath212 @xcite . in turn , revised pl relations for @xmath163 and @xmath202 have been derived from those for @xmath206 and @xmath207 using the transformation equations of @xcite . on a scale where the lmc is at a distance modulus of 18.50 mag , @xmath213 where p is the period in days . with the new pl relations , the mean apparent distance moduli in @xmath163 and @xmath202 for the cepheids in ic  342 become @xmath214  mag and @xmath215  mag , respectively , and the mean colour excess becomes @xmath216  mag . the colour excess permits a solution for the optical depth of dust localized in ic  342 ( @xmath78 ) , since the optical depth of galactic dust at @xmath121 has been shown to be @xmath217 (   [ s_ext ] ) . knowledge of the optical depth of both components then permits corrections for extinction in @xmath163 and @xmath202 . calculations have been accomplished with yes using the reddening law of @xcite tuned to give @xmath120 for vega ( see * ? ? ? * ) .    adopting a heliocentric velocity of @xmath218 @xcite , the observed mean colour excess of the cepheids gives @xmath219 for spectral types between f8  i and g2  i , typical of luminous cepheids . solving for the galactic and localized components of the extinction in @xmath202 over the same span of spectral types ( the k - correction is negligible ) , the true distance modulus @xmath136 ranges from 27.504 to 27.492 mag . the distance modulus can be corrected for metallicity using observations of hii regions in ic  342 made by @xcite . as was done for @xcite cepheids , measurements of @xmath220 across the disk were converted to oxygen abundances using the calibration of @xcite . based upon their positions , the appropriate mean metallicity to adopt for the cepheids observed in ic  342 is @xmath221 . with @xmath146 @xcite , the corrected distance modulus is @xmath222  mag on the scale where the lmc is at 18.50 mag . the uncertainty is that due to random errors , specifically the quadrature sum of the errors associated with @xmath223 and with the apparent distance modulus in @xmath202 . the result is 0.06 mag higher than the value estimated by @xcite . note also that the revised extinction of the cepheids in @xmath13 is @xmath224 ( galactic plus localized ) , which is @xmath225 more than estimated by @xcite . correcting to the maser zero - point , the distance modulus for ic  342 becomes @xmath226  mag . recently , the extinction of maffei  1 was found from the colour-@xmath14 relation to be @xmath227 @xcite . the corresponding broadband extinctions were derived from extinction coefficients computed by an older version of yes than that employed in this paper for maffei  2 and ic  342 . in the updated version of yes , the accuracy of extinction computations has increased owing to improvements in the template seds ( see * ? ? ? * ) . for consistency with the treatment of maffei  2 and ic  342 , we have re - computed the extinction parameters of maffei  1 using the same version of yes employed in this paper . the revised extinction coefficients , broadband extinctions and extinction - corrected magnitudes for maffei  1 are given in table  [ tabprop ] . @xcite used the @xmath8-band fp relation constructed from ellipticals in the coma cluster to determine the distance to maffei  1 . the authors arrived at a distance of @xmath228  mpc , which is the weighted mean of their fp estimate combined with measurements from the @xmath229 relation of @xcite using photometry in @xmath45 and @xmath194 . the @xmath229 distance estimates depend on the hubble constant . to place @xmath175  on the same extinction scale as that adopted in this paper would require a re - analysis of @xmath176 @xcite zero - points ( see   [ s_zp ] ) . given that the two @xmath229 distances to maffei  1 are consistent within errors with the fp distance derived for this galaxy , here we adopt the fp distance alone in order to obtain a value that is on the same extinction and distance scale as the distances to maffei  2 and ic  342 derived in this paper . the fp estimate depends on the @xmath8-band extinction of maffei  1 as well as the adopted distance to the coma cluster . the modifications to the extinction of maffei  1 and the distance to the coma cluster ( see   [ s_zp ] ) result in a revised distance to maffei  1 of @xmath230  mpc ( corrected to the ngc  4258 maser zero - point ) . the @xmath8-band imaging of @xcite revealed a close grouping of galaxies apparently dominated by the spirals maffei  2 and ic  342 and the giant elliptical maffei  1 . unfortunately , the gross uncertainties in the distances to these three galaxies , owing to their heavy obscuration , precluded a definitive statement about their relative positions and luminosities . the results of this paper now allow for a reliable comparison of all three galaxies .    the revised properties of maffei  1 , maffei  2 and ic  342 are summarized in table  [ tabprop ] . all values are now anchored to the same distance and extinction scale . the implications of our results for these three galaxies are as follows :    \1 . the distances found in this study place the three galaxies within 0.49  mpc in depth . their maximum spread in angle is @xmath231 , which corresponds to a metric distance of 0.53  mpc at the average distance to the galaxies of @xmath232  mpc maffei  1 , maffei  2 and ic  342 have nearly identical face - on luminosities , spanning a range of only 0.02  mag in @xmath9 . as predicted by @xcite , maffei  2 suffers more galactic extinction than maffei  1 by nearly a full magnitude in @xmath13 . although a magnitude fainter in @xmath9 than m31 , the three galaxies clearly dominate the ic  342/maffei group . the next brightest member , dwingeloo 1 , has a rotational velocity comparable to m33 and can be considered to be @xmath233  mag fainter than the giants in @xmath8 . velocities in the local group reference frame , computed using the solar apex vector of @xcite , are 311  @xmath123 , 220  @xmath123  and 255  @xmath123  for maffei  1 , maffei  2 and ic  342 , respectively . these values significantly exceed the velocity dispersion of 61  @xmath123  for the local group @xcite , placing all three galaxies well beyond its dynamical range . previously , the role that maffei  1 , maffei  2 and ic  342 have played in the evolution of the milky way and its neighbours has been a subject of controversy due to their uncertain distances . early estimates of the radial velocities and distances to maffei  1 and ic  342 suggested that the galaxies could have been in the vicinity of the local group within the last 7 billion years , thereby affecting the early dynamical evolution of the local group @xcite . shortly following this analysis , @xcite used the angular separations and radial velocities of 12 galaxies identified as members of the ic  342/maffei group to argue that the evolution of the group must have been independent of the local group . more recently , distances to several dwarf galaxies in the ic  342/maffei group have been derived by @xcite via the tip of the red giant branch ( trgb ) , placing the dwarfs outside the early dynamical influence of the local group . however , past distance estimates to maffei  2 were too uncertain to ascertain its placement within the group or its role as a dominant member . the modern , homogeneous properties presented in this paper for all three galaxies firmly establish the existence of a compact group of galaxies dominated by three giants at an average distance of 3.03  mpc from the milky way . the mean velocity of the galaxies relative to the local group is 253  @xmath123 . assuming a smooth hubble flow with @xmath234 ( see   [ s_zp ] ) , the hubble distance to the ic  342/maffei group is 3.17  mpc . this is in close agreement with the mean distance of @xmath232  mpc found in this study . it is therefore highly unlikely that the dominant members of the ic  342/maffei group have interacted with the local group since the big bang . this conclusion lends credence to the timing model of @xcite , which is based on the simple evolutionary scenario of a two - body system involving m31 and the milky way with negligible perturbation from other galaxies . the model provides an estimate for the age of the universe and mass of the local group , in particular offering strong evidence that most of the mass in the local group is dark . the predictions of the model are therefore strengthened by the results of this study . we have constructed a correlation between dust and gas in spiral galaxies as a tool for determining the galactic extinction of a heavily obscured spiral . the correlation can be used to estimate the extragalactic extinction of constituent hii regions from measurements of the column density of hydrogen in the heavily obscured galaxy . the spiral s galactic extinction can then be determined by taking the average difference between the extragalactic extinction and the total extinction of each hii region found from observations of the balmer decrement . we have used the dust  gas correlation to measure the galactic extinction of the heavily obscured spirals maffei  2 and ic  342 , for which we find values of @xmath235 and @xmath236 , respectively , where @xmath80  is the optical depth of galactic dust at 1  @xmath0 m . the galactic extinction of maffei  2 is the most accurate measurement to date , while the result for ic  342 is consistent with the optical depth of @xmath4 obtained from the reddening maps of @xcite . we therefore adopt the weighted mean of the two values for ic  342 , which yields @xmath110 . thus , @xmath2  mag for maffei  2 and @xmath6  mag for ic  342 . the reddening coefficients used in this analysis were computed by the york extinction solver ( yes ) , which accounts for the colour - dependent shifts in the effective wavelengths of broadband filters .      to determine the distance to maffei  2 , we have formulated the tully - fisher ( tf ) relation in @xmath8 using rotation curves instead of hi line widths as the luminosity diagnostic , as line widths for nearby galaxies like maffei  2 can be unreliable due to contamination by galactic hi . the tf distance to maffei  2 is found to be @xmath7  mpc , where the zero - point is set by the maser distance to ngc  4258 . using the extinction treatment and distance scale adopted in this paper , we re - derive the cepheid distance to ic  342 @xcite and the fundamental plane distance to maffei  1 @xcite , obtaining @xmath237  mpc and @xmath230  mpc , respectively . the revised distances and magnitudes reveal that the ic  342/maffei group is dominated by three giant galaxies with nearly identical luminosities . further , the average distance to the three galaxies is in excellent agreement with expectations for the hubble flow , making it highly unlikely that these galaxies interacted with the local group since the big bang . rlf and mlm gratefully acknowledge the continuing support of the natural sciences and engineering research council of canada and the ontario graduate scholarship program . mlm is also grateful to s. sakai for very helpful communications and to r. ross for performing initial data reductions . hl and mgr thank noao for the use of their facilities . mgr gratefully acknowledges the financial support of grants from conacyt ( conacyt 43121 ) and unam ( dgapa in 112103 , in 108406 - 2 and in 108506 - 2 ) . this publication makes use of data products from the two micron all sky survey , which is a joint project of the university of massachusetts and the infrared processing and analysis center / california institute of technology , funded by the national aeronautics and space administration and the national science foundation . some data were accessed as guest user , canadian astronomy data centre , which is operated by the dominion astrophysical observatory for the national research council of canada s herzberg institute of astrophysics . in addition , this research has made use of the nasa / ipac extragalactic database ( ned ) which is operated by the jet propulsion laboratory , california institute of technology , under contract with the national aeronautics and space administration . cccccc @xmath238 & & & & @xmath239 & + @xmath19 & @xmath240 & @xmath241 & & @xmath242 & @xmath243 + @xmath51 } \lambda4959 $ ] & & & & @xmath244 & @xmath245 + @xmath51 } \lambda5007 $ ] & & & & @xmath246 & @xmath247 + hei @xmath248 & & & & @xmath249 & + @xmath250 \lambda6300 $ ] & & & & @xmath251 & + @xmath252 \lambda6548 $ ] & @xmath253 & @xmath254 & & & + @xmath18 & @xmath255 & @xmath256 & & @xmath257 & @xmath258 + @xmath252 \lambda6583 $ ] & @xmath259 & @xmath260 & & @xmath261 & @xmath262 + hei @xmath263 & & & & @xmath264 & + @xmath265 \lambda6716 $ ] & @xmath266 & @xmath267 & & @xmath268 & @xmath269 + @xmath265 \lambda6731 $ ] & @xmath270 & @xmath271 & & @xmath272 & @xmath273 + @xmath274 \lambda7136 $ ] & & & & @xmath275 & + @xmath276 & @xmath277 & @xmath278 & & @xmath279 & @xmath280 + @xmath281  (  ) & @xmath282 & @xmath283 & & @xmath284 & @xmath285 +      @xmath286 $ ] & 168 & 6.6 & @xmath287 & -2.98 & 4,572 & 3.07 & @xmath288 & @xmath289 & 2.24 & @xmath290 & @xmath291 & @xmath292 & + @xmath293 $ ] & 187 & 16.5 & @xmath294 & -3.00 & 4,748 & 3.06 & @xmath295 & @xmath296 & 2.33 & @xmath297 & @xmath298 & @xmath299 & + @xmath300 $ ] & 564 & 197.0 & @xmath301 & -3.76 & 10,330 & 2.86 & @xmath302 & @xmath303 & 7.61 & @xmath304 & @xmath305 & @xmath306 & mr85 + @xmath307 $ ] & 303 & 64.3 & @xmath308 & -3.01 & 4,835 & 3.05 & @xmath309 & @xmath310 & 2.37 & @xmath311 & @xmath312 & @xmath313 & mr85 + @xmath314 $ ] & 916 & 53.9 & @xmath315 & -3.76 & 10,390 & 2.86 & @xmath316 & @xmath317 & 7.71 & @xmath304 & @xmath318 & @xmath319 & mr85 + @xmath320 $ ] & 160 & & @xmath321 & -3.24 & 6,527 & 2.97 & @xmath322 & @xmath323 & 3.40 & @xmath324 & @xmath325 & @xmath326 & bk82 + @xmath327 $ ] & 357 & 442.4 & @xmath328 & -3.33 & 7,147 & 2.94 & @xmath329 & @xmath330 & 3.87 & @xmath331 & @xmath332 & @xmath333 & + @xmath334 $ ] & 321 & 112.0 & @xmath335 & -3.31 & 7,032 & 2.95 & @xmath336 & @xmath337 & 3.78 & @xmath338 & @xmath339 & @xmath340 & +    lcccccccccll ngc2903 & 4 & 09:32:09.7 & + 21:30:02 & 560 & 60 & 29 & 58.2 & 0.031 & 0.035 & wv86 & yx95 + ngc4303 & 4 & 12:21:54.7 & + 04:28:20 & 1,568 & 25 & 7 & 38.4 & 0.022 & 0.025 & w88 & ky88 + ngc4321 & 4 & 12:22:55.2 & + 15:49:23 & 1,574 & 30 & 153 & 63.6 & 0.026 & 0.030 & w88 & ky88 + ngc4501 & 3 & 12:31:59.6 & + 14:25:17 & 2,276 & 58 & 140 & 49.7 & 0.038 & 0.043 & w88 & yx95 + ngc5055 & 4 & 13:15:49.3 & + 42:02:06 & 500 & 55 & 99 & 102.6 & 0.018 & 0.020 & wv86 & yx95 + ngc5194 & 4 & 13:29:53.3 & + 47:11:48 & 464 & 20 & 170 & 111.6 & 0.035 & 0.040 & ta91 & yx95 +   + maffei2 & 4 & 02:41:54.6 & + 59:36:11 & -23 & 67 & 206 & 118.9 & & & ht96 & mw04 +   + ngc598 & 6 & 01:33:50.9 & + 30:39:37 & -181 & 57 & 22 & 494.4 & 0.042 & 0.048 & n80a & yx95 + ngc2403 & 6 & 07:36:54.5 & + 65:35:58 & 125 & 60 & 125 & 163.2 & 0.040 & 0.045 & wv86 & yx95 + ngc4654 & 6 & 12:43:56.6 & + 13:07:33 & 1,030 & 52 & 128 & 39.7 & 0.026 & 0.030 & w88 & yx95 + ngc5457 & 6 & 14:03:12.5 & + 54:20:55 & 243 & 18 & 39 & 126.6 & 0.009 & 0.010 & bg81 & ks91 +   + ic342 & 6 & 03:46:49.7 & + 68:05:45 & 25 & 25 & 39 & 209.3 & & & n80b & yx95      @xmath341 $ ] & 53 & 30.8 & 3.99 & -2.88 & 3,877 & 3.13 & 0.22 & 14.26 & 1.94 & 11.92 & 38.10 & 0.19 & mr85 + @xmath342 $ ] & 89 & 27.7 & 5.61 & -2.99 & 4,641 & 3.07 & 0.55 & 15.90 & 2.28 & 10.42 & 36.74 & 0.52 & mr85 + @xmath343 $ ] & 93 & 27.6 & 6.56 & -2.92 & 4,134 & 3.11 & 0.68 & 15.78 & 2.04 & 9.24 & 34.26 & 0.65 & mr85 + @xmath344 $ ] & 152 & 73.0 & 4.36 & -3.21 & 6,272 & 2.98 & 0.35 & 11.14 & 3.22 & 13.94 & 39.02 & 0.31 & mr85 + @xmath345 $ ] & 157 & 31.1 & 3.12 & -3.01 & 4,820 & 3.05 & 0.02 & 10.51 & 2.36 & 10.24 & 30.99 & -0.02 & mr85 + @xmath346 $ ] & 161 & 41.8 & 4.55 & -3.21 & 6,280 & 2.98 & 0.39 & 10.07 & 3.22 & 13.95 & 37.97 & 0.35 & mr85 + @xmath347 $ ] & 45 & 33.0 & 3.84 & -2.93 & 4,255 & 3.10 & 0.20 & 11.67 & 2.10 & 19.97 & 51.61 & 0.16 & ss91 + @xmath348 $ ] & 46 & 36.0 & 3.40 & -3.09 & 5,393 & 3.02 & 0.11 & 11.62 & 2.67 & 24.63 & 60.88 & 0.07 & ss91 + @xmath349 $ ] & 51 & 160.0 & 5.18 & -2.98 & 4,569 & 3.07 & 0.48 & 11.36 & 2.24 & 17.49 & 46.34 & 0.44 & ss91 + @xmath350 $ ] & 51 & 19.0 & 3.65 & -2.93 & 4,185 & 3.10 & 0.15 & 5.76 & 2.07 & 16.09 & 37.94 & 0.11 & ss91 + @xmath351 $ ] & 54 & 64.0 & 3.68 & -3.09 & 5,422 & 3.02 & 0.18 & 6.55 & 2.69 & 18.78 & 44.11 & 0.15 & ss91 + @xmath352 $ ] & 71 & 21.0 & 3.34 & -2.94 & 4,295 & 3.09 & 0.07 & 10.07 & 2.12 & 8.25 & 26.57 & 0.03 & ss91 + @xmath353 $ ] & 73 & 46.0 & 4.12 & -3.01 & 4,824 & 3.05 & 0.27 & 10.56 & 2.37 & 8.42 & 27.40 & 0.24 & ss91 + @xmath354 $ ] & 107 & 207.0 & 3.27 & -3.31 & 7,002 & 2.95 & 0.09 & 9.17 & 3.76 & 4.11 & 17.39 & 0.06 & ss91 + @xmath355 $ ] & 144 & 117.0 & 3.12 & -3.39 & 7,647 & 2.92 & 0.06 & 7.09 & 4.31 & 1.32 & 9.73 & 0.02 & ss91 + @xmath356 $ ] & 57 & 21.2 & 5.87 & -2.93 & 4,196 & 3.10 & 0.58 & 5.87 & 2.07 & 12.81 & 31.49 & 0.55 & mr85 + @xmath357 $ ] & 68 & 39.0 & 4.59 & -2.97 & 4,481 & 3.08 & 0.36 & 6.13 & 2.20 & 10.63 & 27.39 & 0.33 & ss91 + @xmath358 $ ] & 81 & 33.4 & 5.55 & -2.92 & 4,135 & 3.11 & 0.53 & 5.71 & 2.04 & 7.72 & 21.15 & 0.49 & mr85 + @xmath359 $ ] & 108 & 62.0 & 4.06 & -2.98 & 4,625 & 3.07 & 0.25 & 7.06 & 2.27 & 5.08 & 17.22 & 0.22 & ss91 + @xmath360 $ ] & 127 & 43.5 & 4.67 & -3.01 & 4,795 & 3.06 & 0.39 & 6.95 & 2.35 & 3.68 & 14.31 & 0.35 & mr85 + @xmath361 $ ] & 153 & 137.0 & 3.77 & -3.11 & 5,516 & 3.02 & 0.20 & 5.80 & 2.74 & 2.66 & 11.12 & 0.17 & ss91 + @xmath362 $ ] & 152 & 33.0 & 4.70 & -3.23 & 6,404 & 2.97 & 0.42 & 5.87 & 3.31 & 3.28 & 12.43 & 0.38 & ss91 + @xmath363 $ ] & 158 & 68.0 & 4.22 & -3.08 & 5,346 & 3.02 & 0.30 & 9.29 & 2.64 & 2.34 & 13.97 & 0.27 & ss91 + @xmath364 $ ] & 159 & 51.6 & 4.50 & -3.04 & 5,003 & 3.04 & 0.36 & 9.00 & 2.46 & 2.14 & 13.28 & 0.32 & mr85 + @xmath365 $ ] & 41 & 67.0 & 4.79 & -2.89 & 3,911 & 3.13 & 0.39 & 9.83 & 1.95 & 15.46 & 40.75 & 0.35 & sk96 + @xmath366 $ ] & 72 & 39.0 & 5.16 & -2.98 & 4,616 & 3.07 & 0.47 & 6.81 & 2.26 & 8.46 & 23.73 & 0.44 & sk96 + @xmath367 $ ] & 74 & 12.0 & 3.31 & -2.88 & 3,880 & 3.13 & 0.05 & 6.92 & 1.94 & 6.90 & 20.72 & 0.02 & sk96 + @xmath368 $ ] & 124 & 70.0 & 3.31 & -3.14 & 5,776 & 3.00 & 0.09 & 5.55 & 2.90 & 3.14 & 11.83 & 0.05 & sk96 + @xmath369 $ ] & 116 & 26.0 & 3.84 & -3.12 & 5,589 & 3.01 & 0.22 & 6.28 & 2.78 & 3.68 & 13.64 & 0.19 & sk96 + @xmath370 $ ] & 96 & 16.3 & 5.06 & -2.92 & 4,164 & 3.11 & 0.45 & 15.53 & 2.06 & 9.95 & 35.43 & 0.41 & mr85 + @xmath371 $ ] & 169 & 18.7 & 5.20 & -2.99 & 4,650 & 3.07 & 0.48 & 15.78 & 2.28 & 11.03 & 37.84 & 0.45 & mr85 + @xmath372 $ ] & 152 & 52.2 & 6.13 & -3.10 & 5,442 & 3.02 & 0.65 & 16.16 & 2.70 & 13.05 & 42.26 & 0.61 & mr85 + @xmath373 $ ] & 281 & 118.6 & 3.36 & -3.24 & 6,524 & 2.97 & 0.11 & 8.07 & 3.39 & 16.42 & 40.91 & 0.08 & mr85 + @xmath374 $ ] & 61 & 50.4 & 4.79 & -2.89 & 3,913 & 3.13 & 0.39 & 5.07 & 1.95 & 37.59 & 80.25 & 0.35 & mr85 + @xmath375 $ ] & 125 & 51.9 & 3.84 & -2.90 & 3,996 & 3.12 & 0.19 & 4.87 & 1.99 & 9.32 & 23.51 & 0.15 & mr85 + @xmath376 $ ] & 1,816 & 4.3 & 2.67 & -3.20 & 6,184 & 2.98 & -0.10 & 9.42 & 3.16 & 0.00 & 9.42 & -0.15 & mr85 + @xmath377 $ ] & 846 & 20.5 & 3.95 & -3.24 & 6,518 & 2.97 & 0.26 & 18.01 & 3.39 & 0.00 & 18.01 & 0.21 & mr85 + @xmath378 $ ] & 435 & 203.0 & 4.23 & -3.28 & 6,773 & 2.96 & 0.33 & 19.03 & 3.58 & 0.00 & 19.03 & 0.28 & mr85 + @xmath379 $ ] & 86 & 28.7 & 4.05 & -3.14 & 5,739 & 3.01 & 0.27 & 14.93 & 2.87 & 7.56 & 30.05 & 0.22 & mr85 + @xmath380 $ ] & 268 & & 4.84 & -3.27 & 6,752 & 2.96 & 0.45 & 15.61 & 3.56 & 0.00 & 15.61 & 0.40 & ka81 + @xmath381 $ ] & 368 & 117.0 & 3.49 & -3.17 & 5,998 & 2.99 & 0.14 & 16.09 & 3.04 & 0.00 & 16.09 & 0.09 & vp88 + @xmath382 $ ] & 444 & & 4.76 & -3.37 & 7,488 & 2.93 & 0.44 & 19.48 & 4.16 & 0.00 & 19.48 & 0.40 & ka81 + @xmath383 $ ] & 615 & 107.0 & 2.98 & -3.21 & 6,292 & 2.98 & 0.00 & 18.26 & 3.23 & 0.00 & 18.26 & -0.05 & vp88 + @xmath384 $ ] & 782 & & 4.31 & -3.55 & 8,814 & 2.89 & 0.36 & 15.19 & 5.52 & 0.00 & 15.19 & 0.32 & ka81 + @xmath385 $ ] & 871 & 86.0 & 3.78 & -3.33 & 7,190 & 2.94 & 0.23 & 20.21 & 3.91 & 0.00 & 20.21 & 0.18 & vp88 + @xmath386 $ ] & 1,129 & 20.0 & 2.84 & -3.42 & 7,830 & 2.92 & -0.02 & 19.87 & 4.48 & 0.00 & 19.87 & -0.07 & vp88 + @xmath387 $ ] & 1,352 & & 3.07 & -3.39 & 7,642 & 2.92 & 0.04 & 17.83 & 4.30 & 0.00 & 17.83 & 0.00 & ka81 + @xmath388 $ ] & 1,473 & & 4.48 & -3.63 & 9,425 & 2.88 & 0.40 & 19.87 & 6.28 & 0.00 & 19.87 & 0.36 & ka81 + @xmath389 $ ] & 1,476 & 97.0 & 3.20 & -3.46 & 8,163 & 2.91 & 0.09 & 19.93 & 4.80 & 0.00 & 19.93 & 0.04 & vp88 + @xmath390 $ ] & 1,675 & & 4.48 & -3.61 & 9,245 & 2.88 & 0.40 & 15.22 & 6.04 & 0.00 & 15.22 & 0.35 & ka81 + @xmath391 $ ] & 592 & 157.0 & 3.49 & -3.55 & 8,797 & 2.89 & 0.17 & 11.05 & 5.50 & 0.02 & 11.09 & 0.13 & mr85 + @xmath392 $ ] & 393 & 155.9 & 3.40 & -3.43 & 7,906 & 2.92 & 0.14 & 15.67 & 4.55 & 0.09 & 15.85 & 0.09 & mr85 + @xmath393 $ ] & 65 & 83.1 & 3.76 & -3.27 & 6,747 & 2.96 & 0.22 & 20.30 & 3.56 & 1.55 & 23.40 & 0.17 & mr85 + @xmath394 $ ] & 165 & 180.5 & 4.26 & -3.40 & 7,678 & 2.92 & 0.34 & 21.17 & 4.33 & 0.56 & 22.29 & 0.30 & mr85 + @xmath395 $ ] & 80 & 72.0 & 4.06 & -3.16 & 5,938 & 3.00 & 0.28 & 20.24 & 3.00 & 0.96 & 22.16 & 0.23 & mr85 + @xmath396 $ ] & 416 & 213.0 & 3.60 & -3.59 & 9,087 & 2.89 & 0.20 & 15.07 & 5.84 & 0.09 & 15.25 & 0.16 & mr85 + @xmath397 $ ] & 390 & 61.9 & 3.40 & -3.30 & 6,945 & 2.95 & 0.13 & 8.63 & 3.71 & 1.08 & 10.79 & 0.12 & mr85 + @xmath398 $ ] & 308 & 169.3 & 4.52 & -3.40 & 7,686 & 2.92 & 0.40 & 9.96 & 4.34 & 2.55 & 15.06 & 0.39 & mr85 + @xmath399 $ ] & 291 & 68.2 & 3.42 & -3.32 & 7,088 & 2.95 & 0.14 & 10.17 & 3.82 & 2.60 & 15.37 & 0.13 & mr85 + @xmath400 $ ] & 269 & 234.3 & 3.12 & -3.28 & 6,807 & 2.96 & 0.05 & 10.08 & 3.60 & 2.93 & 15.94 & 0.04 & mr85 + @xmath401 $ ] & 287 & 249.4 & 4.51 & -3.56 & 8,879 & 2.89 & 0.40 & 10.22 & 5.59 & 3.93 & 18.08 & 0.39 & mr85 + @xmath402 $ ] & 701 & 213.6 & 3.35 & -3.67 & 9,658 & 2.87 & 0.14 & 5.91 & 6.60 & 0.13 & 6.17 & 0.13 & mr85 + @xmath403 $ ] & 172 & 162.2 & 4.14 & -3.29 & 6,918 & 2.95 & 0.31 & 8.33 & 3.69 & 6.91 & 22.15 & 0.30 & rp82 + @xmath404 $ ] & 113 & & 4.84 & -3.25 & 6,611 & 2.97 & 0.45 & 7.34 & 3.46 & 10.74 & 28.82 & 0.44 & rp82 + @xmath405 $ ] & 212 & & 4.41 & -3.32 & 7,124 & 2.94 & 0.37 & 9.68 & 3.85 & 5.14 & 19.96 & 0.36 & rp82 + @xmath406 $ ] & 704 & 173.8 & 3.84 & -3.67 & 9,676 & 2.87 & 0.26 & 5.86 & 6.62 & 0.13 & 6.12 & 0.25 & rp82 + @xmath407 $ ] & 288 & 195.0 & 5.03 & -3.38 & 7,517 & 2.93 & 0.49 & 10.21 & 4.19 & 2.92 & 16.05 & 0.48 & rp82 + @xmath408 $ ] & 78 & 83.0 & 4.14 & -3.28 & 6,800 & 2.96 & 0.31 & 20.00 & 3.60 & 4.09 & 28.18 & 0.28 & sk96 + @xmath409 $ ] & 106 & 100.0 & 3.08 & -3.31 & 7,054 & 2.95 & 0.04 & 12.68 & 3.80 & 1.47 & 15.62 & 0.01 & sk96 + @xmath410 $ ] & 75 & 127.0 & 3.57 & -3.36 & 7,364 & 2.93 & 0.18 & 19.72 & 4.06 & 5.12 & 29.96 & 0.15 & sk96 + @xmath411 $ ] & 55 & 59.0 & 3.57 & -3.11 & 5,554 & 3.01 & 0.15 & 17.71 & 2.76 & 7.27 & 32.25 & 0.12 & sk96 + @xmath412 $ ] & 37 & 280.0 & 3.54 & -3.07 & 5,222 & 3.03 & 0.14 & 14.19 & 2.58 & 11.47 & 37.13 & 0.11 & sk96 + @xmath413 $ ] & 23 & 15.0 & 4.14 & -3.23 & 6,408 & 2.97 & 0.30 & 13.08 & 3.31 & 19.14 & 51.36 & 0.27 & sk96 +    llccccccccc ngc3726 & sc & 53 & 0.62 & 865.6 & @xmath414 & 9.51 & 0.019 & 0.03 & 0.18 & -21.98 + ngc3729 & sab & 49 & 0.68 & 1059.8 & @xmath415 & 10.30 & 0.012 & 0.02 & 0.13 & -21.13 + ngc3917 & scd & 79 & 0.24 & 964.6 & @xmath416 & 10.85 & 0.025 & 0.04 & 0.60 & -21.06 + ngc3949 & sbc & 55 & 0.62 & 800.2 & @xmath417 & 10.28 & 0.024 & 0.04 & 0.18 & -21.22 + ngc3953 & sbc & 62 & 0.5 & 1052.3 & @xmath418 & 9.02 & 0.034 & 0.05 & 0.36 & -22.67 + ngc4085 & sc & 82 & 0.24 & 745.7 & @xmath419 & 11.28 & 0.020 & 0.03 & 0.59 & -20.62 + ngc4088 & sbc & 69 & 0.37 & 756.7 & @xmath420 & 9.37 & 0.023 & 0.04 & 0.46 & -22.41 + ngc4100 & sbc & 73 & 0.29 & 1074.4 & @xmath421 & 10.00 & 0.026 & 0.04 & 0.58 & -21.90 + ngc4102 & sab & 56 & 0.56 & 846.3 & @xmath422 & 9.93 & 0.023 & 0.04 & 0.25 & -21.63 + ngc4138 & sa & 53 & 0.63 & 893.8 & @xmath423 & 10.09 & 0.016 & 0.03 & 0.16 & -21.37 + ugc6399 & sm & 75 & 0.28 & 791.5 & @xmath424 & 12.88 & 0.018 & 0.03 & 0.00 & -18.43 + ugc6446 & sd & 51 & 0.62 & 644.3 & @xmath425 & 12.58 & 0.018 & 0.03 & 0.05 & -18.78 + ugc6667 & scd & 89 & 0.12 & 973.2 & @xmath426 & 12.63 & 0.019 & 0.03 & 0.56 & -19.24 + ugc6917 & sd & 56 & 0.54 & 910.7 & @xmath427 & 11.74 & 0.031 & 0.05 & 0.14 & -19.73 + ugc6983 & scd & 49 & 0.66 & 1081.9 & @xmath428 & 11.91 & 0.031 & 0.05 & 0.09 & -19.51 +   + maffei2 & sbc & 67 & 0.421 & -23 & @xmath429 & 9.29 & 2.017 & 3.15 & 0.37 & -21.87 +    lccccc apparent magnitudes & @xmath430 & mag & @xmath431 & @xmath432 & @xmath433 + & @xmath434 & mag & @xmath435 & @xmath436 & @xmath437 + & @xmath438 & mag & @xmath439 & @xmath440 & @xmath441 +   + galactic optical depth at @xmath442 & @xmath443 & & @xmath444 & @xmath445 & @xmath446 +   + extinction normalized to @xmath443 & @xmath447 & & @xmath448 & @xmath449 & @xmath450 + computed by yes & @xmath451 & & @xmath452 & @xmath453 & @xmath454 + & @xmath455 & & @xmath456 & @xmath457 & @xmath458 +   + galactic extinction & @xmath459 & mag & @xmath460 & @xmath461 & @xmath462 + & @xmath17 & mag & @xmath463 & @xmath464 & @xmath465 + & @xmath466 & mag & @xmath467 & @xmath468 & @xmath469 +   + internal extinction & @xmath470 & mag & & 0.646 & 0.099 + ( excess over face - on ) & @xmath471 & mag & & 0.548 & 0.081 + & @xmath472 & mag & & 0.385 & 0.053 +   + apparent face - on magnitudes & @xmath473 & mag & @xmath474 & @xmath475 & @xmath476 + corrected for galactic extinction & @xmath477 & mag & @xmath478 & @xmath479 & @xmath480 + & @xmath481 & mag & @xmath482 & @xmath483 & @xmath484 +   + distance modulus & @xmath0 & mag & @xmath485 & @xmath486 & @xmath487 +   + distance & @xmath488 & mpc & @xmath489 & @xmath490 & @xmath491 +   + absolute face - on magnitudes & @xmath492 & mag & @xmath493 & @xmath494 & @xmath495 + corrected for galactic extinction & @xmath496 & mag & @xmath497 & @xmath498 & @xmath499 + & @xmath9 & mag & @xmath500 & @xmath501 & @xmath502 +
we have obtained spectra of hii regions in the heavily obscured spiral galaxy maffei  2 . 
 the observations have allowed for a determination of the galactic extinction of this galaxy using a correlation between extinction and hydrogen column density observed among spirals . 
 the technique reveals that the optical depth of galactic dust at 1  @xmath0 m obscuring maffei  2 is @xmath1 , which implies that @xmath2  mag , significantly higher than observed for the giant elliptical maffei  1 despite its similar latitude . for comparison 
 , we apply the same technique to ic  342 , a neighbouring spiral to maffei  2 but with more moderate obscuration by galactic dust , owing to its higher galactic latitude . for this galaxy , 
 we obtain @xmath3 , which agrees within errors with the value of @xmath4 derived from the reddening estimate of @xcite . 
 we therefore adopt the weighted mean of @xmath5 for the extinction of ic  342 , which implies that @xmath6  mag . 
 a new distance estimate for maffei  2 of @xmath7  mpc is obtained from a self - consistent tully - fisher relation in @xmath8 adjusted to the ngc  4258 maser zero - point . with our new measurement of @xmath9 , maffei  2 
 joins maffei  1 and ic  342 as one of three giant members of the nearby ic  342/maffei group of galaxies . 
 we present the revised properties of all three galaxies based on the most accurate extinction and distance estimates to date , accounting for shifts in the effective wavelengths of broadband filters as this effect can be significant for highly reddened galaxies . 
 the revised distances are consistent with what would be suspected for the hubble flow , making it highly unlikely that the galaxies interacted with the local group since the big bang .