Wallpaper author:
Jared Greer
12 Dec 2025
NGC 1999: A key-shaped gateway through the cosmos
Look in the southwest quadrant of the Orion nebula region. You will see a peculiar cloud, rich with HII, and a small region with bright reflective details. At the center of this cloud, surrounded by herbig-haro objects, is a key-shaped hole in the gas that is likely ripped open by radiation from the variable star V380 Orionis, as well as jets of radiation from the nearby herbig-haros. This object is very small and very bright. In small telescopes, it appears as just a small patch of light. In deeper images, a black void is visible in the center.
Dataset from which the image was processed
NGC 1999
20 credit
- Type of target............................................................................................................................Emission Nebula
- Camera............................................................................................................................FLI Proline PL16803
- Target coordinates............................................................................................................................RA 84.1042 Dec 6.7
- Hemisphere............................................................................................................................Northern
- Telescope location............................................................................................................................United States of America
- Transient event............................................................................................................................No
- Observed on............................................................................................................................15 Nov 2022 - 21 Jan 2023
Filter | Avg Exp (s) | Total Exposure | Subframes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luminance | 3429 | 20h | 21 |
| Red | 2571 | 15h | 21 |
| Green | 2700 | 15h | 20 |
| Blue | 2700 | 15h | 20 |
| Halpha | 3600 | 20h | 20 |