Sunny Priyan
This peculiar Hubble Space Telescope portrait showcases NGC 1999, a reflection nebula in the constellation Orion.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, ESO, K. Noll
NGC 1999 is around 1,350 light-years from Earth and lies near the Orion Nebula, the closest region of massive star formation to Earth.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, ESO, K. Noll
NGC 1999 itself is a relic of recent star formation – it is composed of debris left over from the formation of a newborn star.
Image Credit: Pixabay
Just like fog curling around a streetlamp, reflection nebulae like NGC 1999 shine by the light from an embedded source.
Image Credit: Pixabay
In the case of NGC 1999, this source is the aforementioned newborn star V380 Orionis, which is visible at the center of this image.
Image Credit: Pixabay
The most notable aspect of NGC 1999’s appearance, is the conspicuous hole in its center, which resembles an inky black keyhole of cosmic proportions.
Image Credit: Pixabay