ASTRO: vdB 150

VdB 150, along with vdB 149 (taken later in October) are reflection
nebulae in central Cepheus that are part of a single huge molecular
cloud lit by bright blue stars. VdB 150 is illuminated by 8th magnitude
SAO 10264, a B8IV star. The Sky puts its distance at about 1000
light-years based on parallax. This is pushing the limit of the method
so consider it quite approximate as the parallax is only about 0.003"
which is a very difficult measurement, even for Hipparcos to make.

As has been the usual for 2012 weather took a toll on the image,
especially the color data. It was so damaged by clouds I didn't try to
bring out the background nebulosity of the molecular cloud as the color
data was just too noisy. Also at my image scale it is rather
featureless. But the data was sufficient for the reflection nebula.

14" LX200R @ f/10, L=8x10' (many poor) RGB=2x10' (all poor),
STL-11000XM, Paramount ME

Rick
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