Wallpaper author:
Peter LeFebvre
23 Feb 2026
NGC 1999
NGC 1999 AKA The Cosmic Keyhole
This nebulous area in Orion is noteworthy for the keyhole like structure at its center. There were some column defects in the data that were easy to address thanks to a tutorial from @Nik Szymanek. Lots of integration time and enjoyable to process.
Distance: 1,500 light-years
Apparent Magnitude: 9.5
Constellation: Orion
Object Type: Reflection Nebula
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 |