Dense dark cloud of dust that blocks the Milky Way band behind it, seen as a dark patch beside the Southern Cross.
Also called: the dark hole in the milky way.
Dark nebula: Dust thick enough to blot out the stars behind it. Every kind of thing there is →
Look in the constellation Crux/Musca.
Visible mainly from the southern half of the world.
Finding it: Right beside the Southern Cross.
The Planetarium works out where it actually is from your own place and the date — including whether it is above the horizon at all tonight.
A dark 'hole' in the star field — you see it by what it hides.
Honest, not glamorous — why the pictures here are drawn.
On the 100-meter-track scale model of the Milky Way, the Coalsack Nebula would be about 60 centimetres from the Sun -- about the width of a bicycle wheel. Light takes 600 Earth years to get here from the Coalsack Nebula, so what you are looking at is the Coalsack Nebula as it was 600 Earth years ago.
| Distance from us | ~600 light-years |
|---|
The Milky Wayspiral galaxyNaked eye
Proxima CentauristarWith effortAlpha Centauri A & Bbinary star systemNaked eyeSiriusstarNaked eyeVegastarNaked eyeArcturusstarNaked eyeClear tonight? The Planetarium will show you what is worth a look. Then just go out.