THE REDDENING DISTRIBUTION IN THE FOREGROUND OF THE LARGE-MAGELLANIC-CLOUD

For 1503 LMC foreground stars reddenings were derived based on UBV pho tometry mostly carried out by the authors. The dependence of the intri nsic colors on metallicity was taken into account. From this large dat a sample 1409 stars have been used to calculate a reddening map with a resolution of 10'. It shows strong variations of the foreground redde ning from 0.m00 to 0.m15. The mean reddening is found to be 0.m06 +/- 0.m02. On the map at least two dust components can be identified: rath er small dust clouds with an angular diameter of about 30' to 60' resp onsible for the maxima, and a diffuse component which is visible in la rge extended regions with a smooth low reddening.