The Helping Hand Nebula
The Helping Hand Nebula
LDN1355, the ’Helping Hand’ Nebula in Cassiopeia, together with neighbouring LDN1357 and LDN1358 are areas of dark nebulosity in he constellation of Cassiopeia. Below of the “palm” of the helping hand is a blue reflective nebula (VdB 9) which is illuminated by the star SU Cas. Towards middle bottom edge of the image there is another reflective nebula VdB 7 with a hint of red & blue, surrounding a variable star RZ Cas. However, RZ Cas is not the source of the illumination for VdB 7; rather it is illuminated by a much dimmer 11th mag star nearby.