A powerful source of infrared radiation discovered by the American astronomers Eric Edward Becklin (1940– ) and Gerry (born Gerhart Otto) Neugebauer (1932–2014) in 1966 behind the Orion Nebula; the dense gas and dust of the Orion Nebula completely obscures it from optical telescopes. It is thought to be either a massive and highly luminous protostar, or a runaway star ejected from the Trapezium region of the Orion Nebula.