Object Analysis

The Coalsack Nebula is the most prominent dark nebula in the skies, visible to the naked eye as a dark patch silhouetted against the bright, starry background of the Southern Milky Way. It is located in the constellation Crux (the Southern Cross) at a distance of about 600 light-years.

The Coalsack covers an area of roughly 7 by 5 degrees and overlaps somewhat into the neighboring constellations of Centaurus and Musca. In the southern hemisphere, it has been known since prehistoric times; Aboriginal Australian astronomy identifies it as the head of the "Emu in the Sky."

Physically, it is a dense cloud of dust and gas that absorbs and scatters the light of background stars. While it looks like a hole in the universe, it is actually a molecular cloud that may eventually collapse to form new stars.