# The Distances to Molecular Clouds at High Galactic Latitudes based on GAIA DR2

## TL;DR

This paper determines distances to high-latitude molecular clouds using Gaia DR2 parallax and extinction data, employing Bayesian analysis to identify extinction breakpoints, and validates the method with known star-forming regions.

## Contribution

It introduces a reliable method for measuring molecular cloud distances using Gaia DR2 data, providing first-time distances for 13 clouds and confirming previous measurements.

## Key findings

- Distances for 52 molecular clouds are determined with about 5% systematic error.
- Most clouds are at high Galactic latitudes, with 13 measured for the first time.
- The method's reliability is validated against well-known star-forming regions.

## Abstract

We report the distances of molecular clouds at high Galactic latitudes (|b|>10$^\circ$) derived from parallax and G band extinction (A$_{\rm G}$) measurements in the second Gaia data release, Gaia DR2. Aided by Bayesian analyses, we determined distances by identifying the breakpoint in the extinction A$_{\rm G}$ towards molecular clouds and using the extinction A$_{\rm G}$ of Gaia stars around molecular clouds to confirm the breakpoint. We use nearby star-forming regions, such as Orion, Taurus, Cepheus, and Perseus, whose distances are well-known to examine the reliability of our method. By comparing with previous results, we found that the molecular cloud distances derived from this method are reliable. The systematic error in the distances is approximately 5%. In total, 52 molecular clouds have their distances well determined, most of which are at high Galactic latitudes, and we provide reliable distances for 13 molecular clouds for the first time.