 NGC
1999 is an amazing little find a few degrees south of the
famous M42. The nebula itself is quite bright, but
very small. It is a reflection nebula that surrounds
the 10th magnitude variable star V380 Ori and is only
visible at high magnification. This object is almost
unknown, but I find it to be quite striking.
What makes NGC
1999 so memorable is the tiny, triangular-shaped dark nebula
superimposed on it. This dark nebula is the very
"obscure" Parsamian 34. Unfortunately, all
too often observers fail to use enough magnification to see
it. Be sure to use as much magnification as the
conditions will permit; 300x should begin to reveal
the dark patch. You may need to wait for a night of
good steady seeing.
It isn't yet
clear to me what minimum aperture is required to see the
dark patch, although the nebula itself can be seen in
telescopes as small as 6 inches.
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The field in a 6-inch at
50x. North is down and east is to the right.
My friend Kemer brought
up this nebula in an email just before I went outside one night.
I added it to my observing list at the last minute. He said it
was one of his favorites. I have to say that I agree! It
is now one of mine also. In my 18-inch at 94x it appears as
nothing more than a "wet star", a roundish haze
surrounding a 10th magnitude star, not unlike that seen when there
is dew on the optics or moisture in the air.
At 430x a stunning
sight greeted me. The nebula is cleanly cut by a triangular
dark patch. The contrast is terrific. This one was
definitely worth a look!
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