SIMBAD references

New uvby and Beta photoelectric photometry has been obtained for stars in NGC 1502, a young open cluster with relatively high interstellar reddening. It is shown that some of the previous published data for the cluster suffers from small systematic errors. After correction for zero-point differences, the previous data have been combined with the new data and accurate values of the interstellar reddening [E(b-y)=0.54 mag] and distance modulus [(V_0–MV=9.71 mag] have been obtained. These are compared with similar values calculated from published UBV photometry and MK spectral types, which agree well with the uvby-Beta analysis. It is found that the reddening is not variable over the cluster field, contrary to previous estimates. The fact that systematic errors exist in precise photometry highlights the importance of a careful selection of standard stars in any photometry of reddened B-type stars.