VdB 4, NGC 255 a.o. in Cassiopeia

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VdB 4 (also designated Magakian 12) is a reflection nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. It is associated with the very young open star cluster NGC 225. The nebula is probably remains of the cloud that formed the cluster. The distance to the cluster and the nebula is estimated at about 2000 ly,. but with a big amount of uncertainity. This is related with the uncertainity about the estimations about the cluster's age: it is between a half million and 10 million years. The cluster was discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1783. VdB 4 is centered on the variable star V594 Cas. There is some confusion about the bright nebula LBN 604. Simbad indicates the position of this nebula just northeast of VdB 4 (all designations can be seen on the mouseover annotation). But nothing similar to bright nebula could be found at this position. Most probably LDN 604 refers to the brightest part of VdB 4. Two more open clusters can be spotted on this image: NGC 189 on the left border and the nice CA Berk3 at the botton centre.

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