A long-term program concerning the extraglactic distance scale, specifically aimed at improving distances to nearby calibrating galaxies, will be carried out. With the advantage of the higher precision now achievable with digital charge-coupled detectors (CCD), and by obtaining multicolor data, the reddening for the Cepheid stars in the galaxies under study can be determined, thus eliminating a major systematic uncertainty in their distance determinations. Such an improved calibration will provide critical data for the determination of the Hubble constant, which in turn will provide insights into the properties of the Universe as a whole; i.e., cosmology. The specific projects are intended to provide: 1) New distances and reddening estimates to galaxies for which Cepheids have already been discovered. 2) The discovery of new Cepheids in southern-hemisphere galaxies, with the intent of increasing the number of galaxies upon which the determination of the Hubble constant rests. 3) An investigation into the possible systematic effects of metallicity of the Cepheids on the calibration of the Cepheid distance scale.
