Scientists confirm that the mysterious black object in space 22 years ago turned out to be a “hole” in the sky

In 1999, the Hubble Space Telescope discovered a mysterious black object near the Orion Nebula, which was thought to be a so-called “Bok globule,” a cloud of cold gas and dust. The “Bock Sphere” is very dark because of its high density and opacity.

New edition of NGC 1999 photos. ESA / Hubble / NASA / ESO / K. Noll

But after further observation, scientists found that this black thing is not actually a cloud ball, but a hole! There was an empty space surrounded by nebulae.

The black hole, shaped like a keyhole, belongs to a reflection nebula called NGC 1999, about 1,500 light-years from Earth. Inside there is a newborn star “V380 Orion”. The “local” star is bright white and has an extremely hot surface of 10,000 degrees Celsius. By comparison, the surface temperature of the sun is only 5,500 degrees Celsius. Its mass is about 3.5 suns.

1999 edition of NGC 1999 photos. At the time people thought the black object was a “Bock sphere”. NASA

The Hubble Space Telescope recently released an updated version of this image. The new photo combines data in ultraviolet, visible light and some near-infrared wavelengths, and contains more detail than the 1999 version. But if Webb is filming, you should see more.

Although scientists have confirmed that the black object is a void, its cause remains a mystery.