NGC 1999
Orion
RA
05 36 14
DEC
-06 36 14
Type reflection nebula
NGC 1999 is a bright reflection nebula 1500 light years away not far from the famous M42 "Orion Nebula". It is bright and can be seen with most any telescope from a dark site. Near the center of the nebula is the strange dark looking patch that resembles an old fashion key hole. It was long thought by astronomers to be a dark nebula of dense dust filled gas a "Bok Globule". Astronomers were surprised when they turned the Herschel space telescope to NGC 1999 to look at it in the near-infrared and found no emissions from the patch of dark. They then used ground based telescopes to verify there observations and to prove it to be just a hole in the nebula. The "Key Hole" is thought to be formed by a jet from one of the new forming stars in the nebula that blew out the hole in NGC 1999 causing the void.
ngc 1999 dss.jpg
Last year I took a look at NGC 1999 on a night of excellent seeing and was surprised at what I was seeing at 813 X with a ZAO 6MM eyepiece. The edge of the "Key Hole" was ragged and uneven. This was the first time I had looked at it at high power and I was taken by what I was seeing. I traced the key hole all the way around and it was really ragged and mottled looking all the way. This was a big surprise to me and I spent a long time studying it and talking out loud in the darkness to my self saying over and over" This is unbelievable This is unbelievable".
key Hole NGC 1999.jpg
So next time you are in Orion be sure to check out the key hole in NGC 1999 and see if you can detect its ragged edges and
"GIVE IT A GO AND LET US KNOW"
GOOD LUCK AND GREAT VIEWING!
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