NGC 1990 was discovered by
William Herschel
Frederick William Herschel ( ; ; 15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German-British astronomer and composer. He frequently collaborated with his younger sister and fellow astronomer Caroline Herschel. Born in the Electorate of Hanover ...
in 1786 with an 18.7 inch telescope. However, there is doubt that this object exists in reality, as several visual searches and modern astrophotography have failed to identify the exact location and extent of the reflection nebula. Modern photographs of the area with cameras show ultraviolet leak that gives the false impression of a large blue nebula around ε Ori (
Alnilam
Alnilam is the central star of Orion's Belt in the equatorial constellation of Orion. It has the Bayer designation ε Orionis, which is Latinised to Epsilon Orionis and abbreviated Epsilon Ori or ε Ori. This is a massive, blue supergi ...
). More careful photography does not reveal a nebula in the area. Visual surveys do not reveal the nebula either.
References
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External links
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NGC 1990
1990
Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
Orion (constellation)
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