is NGC1999 a visual object?

[Stonius]

I tried for this one the other night with no luck, possibly because I needed to print out slightly more detailed starcharts.

Essentially, if you follow the eastern arm of M42 for about 1.3 degrees it should be around there.

I kind of like the look of this one because it resembles the head and shoulders of a human peeking over a wall. It's a smallish reflection nebula with what looks like an obscuring cloud in the foreground, but in actual fact the black is caused by a void. There is no dark cloud in front, there is just simply no dust to reflect any light.

Being a 'dark nebula' there is nothing to suggest magnitudes that might give an indication as to whether I should expect to see it. It's too small to make out on widefields of Orion that cover the same patch of sky, but it does seem fairly bright.

Has anyone else had any luck on this one?

Markus

[Tropo-Bob]

The following website may help. It claims that it can be seen with a 6" scope, but high magnification (300x) is needed.

https://observing.skyhound.com/archives/jan/NGC_1999.html


NGC 1999 is an interesting object with its empty space within a nebula, that is surrounded by brighter part of the nebula. Curious!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_1999

[glend]

Try it with Allan's 32" dob.

[Stonius]

Thanks, definitely worth another try then!

And thanks for the link. It's a pity most software doesn't give magnitudes for dark objects, or more precisely, the magnitude contrast between the dark object and the contrasting background material, it would be most helpful.

Best,

Markus

[Stonius]

:eyepop::bowdown: