We have obtained low- and high-resolution spectra of the core of the highly-reddened elliptical galaxy Maffei 1 .
From these data , we have obtained the first measurement of the Mg _ { 2 } index , and have measured the velocity dispersion and radial velocity with improved accuracy .
To evaluate the extinction , a correlation between the Mg _ { 2 } index and effective V - I colour has been established for elliptical galaxies .
Using a new method for correcting for effective wavelength shifts , the V - I colour excess reveals that the optical depth of Galactic dust at 1 \mu m is 1.688 \pm 0.068 .
Thus , A _ { V } = 4.67 \pm 0.19 mag , which is lower by 0.4 mag than previously thought .
To establish the distance , the Fundamental Plane for elliptical galaxies has been constructed in I .
The velocity dispersion of Maffei 1 , measured to be 186.8 \pm 7.4 km s ^ { -1 } , in combination with modern wide-field photometry in I , leads to a distance of 2.92 \pm 0.37 Mpc .
The D _ { n } – \sigma relation , which is independently calibrated , gives 3.08 \pm 0.85 Mpc and 3.23 \pm 0.67 Mpc from photometry in B and K ^ { \prime } , respectively .
The weighted mean of the three estimates is 3.01 \pm 0.30 Mpc , which is lower than distances judged with reference to M32 and the bulge of M31 from the brightest stars seen at K ^ { \prime } .
Since the luminosity of AGB stars at K ^ { \prime } is strongly dependent upon age , the lower distance suggests that the last epoch of star formation in Maffei 1 occurred farther in the past than in these other systems .
The distance and luminosity make Maffei 1 the nearest giant elliptical galaxy .
In the absence of extinction , the galaxy would be among the brightest in the sky , and would have an apparent size two-thirds that of the full Moon .
The radial velocity of Maffei 1 is +66.4 \pm 5.0 km s ^ { -1 } , significantly higher than the accepted value of -10 km s ^ { -1 } .
The Hubble distance corresponding to the mean velocity of Maffei 1 , Maffei 2 and IC 342 is 3.5 Mpc .
Thus , it is unlikely that Maffei 1 has had any influence on Local Group dynamics .