Object of the Week December 30, 2012 - NGC 1999 and the "Key Hole"

[Jimi Lowrey]

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.

420

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".

421

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!

[Paul Alsing]

Hi Jimi,

I had a good look a this guy in 2006 using that 82" just up the road from you. Everyone there that night agreed that the globule looked a lot like Africa! I admit I didn't notice whether the edge was ragged or mottled, I was just soakin' in the overall view...

[Uwe Glahn]

Jimi,

"ragged edges" sounds really spectacular indeed. I never saw the edges as structured borders. I think the positive observation of these structures are a combination of light you can catch with a high as possible magnification. At the end a pure question after aperture and seeing. Next time with good seeing I will revisit the globule.

An other interesting fact around NGC 1999 are the two brighter Herbig-Haro objects which could be detected with 16".

16", 783x, NELM 6m5+
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16", 257x, UHC, NELM 6m5+
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[reiner]

The keyhole nebula is one of my favorites in winter, but I had never looked whether there is more to see except for the indeed very peculiar shape of the hole. I thougt I'll give it a try last night with 22" to see whether the edges are structured ... :-)

I immediately noticed that my telescope is by far too small for this :-( That's probably only for the really big mirrors like yours.

[Spack]

Imaged tonight with my new hyperstar on a C14 here in snow-less and "balmy" Chicago. I have not yet received the light pollution filter to fit the new hyperstar (back-ordered), but this object was obvious in a 10 second shot.

Nice image and will try for better images when the filter arrives (and probably the snow!)

[Jimi Lowrey]

On Universe Today there is a good article on NGC 1999.

http://www.universetoday.com/99596/in-orion-there-really-is-a-hole-in-the-sky/