The Coalsack Nebula (Southern Coalsack, or simply the Coalsack) is a prominent

dark nebula A dark nebula or absorption nebula is a type of interstellar cloud, particularly molecular clouds, that is so dense that it obscures the visible wavelengths of light from objects behind it, such as background stars and emission or reflection nebu ...

in the skies, being easily visible to the

naked eye Naked eye, also called bare eye or unaided eye, is the practice of engaging in visual perception unaided by a magnifying, light-collecting optical instrument, such as a telescope or microscope, or eye protection. Vision corrected to normal ...

as a dark patch obscuring a brief section of

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...

stars as they cross their southernmost region of the sky, east of

Acrux Acrux is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Crux. It has the Bayer designation α Crucis, which is Latinised to Alpha Crucis and abbreviated Alpha Cru or α Cru. With a combined visual magnitude of +0.76, it is the ...

(Alpha Crucis) which is the bright, southern pointer star of the southern cross. It dominates and overspills the southeast corner of what is considered the extent of the

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...

Crux Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for c ...

at a little less than twice the distance of Acrux, away from

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

General information

The Coalsack Nebula covers nearly 7 ° by 5° and overlaps somewhat with the neighbor constellations

Centaurus Centaurus is a bright constellation in the southern sky. One of the 88 modern constellations by area, largest constellations, Centaurus was included among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one o ...

and

Musca Musca () is a small constellation in the deep southern sky. It was one of 12 constellations created by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman, and it first appeared on a celestial globe in ...

. The first observation was reported by

Vicente Yáñez Pinzón Vicente Yáñez Pinzón () (c. 1462 – after 1514) was a Spanish navigator and explorer, the youngest of the Pinzón brothers. Along with his older brother, Martín Alonso Pinzón (''c.'' 1441 – ''c.'' 1493), who captained the '' Pinta'', he s ...

in 1499. It was named "''il Canopo fosco''" (the dark

Canopus Canopus is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina (constellation), Carina and the list of brightest stars, second-brightest star in the night sky. It is also Bayer designation, designated α Carinae, which is Lat ...

) by Amerigo Vespucci and was also called "''Macula Magellani''" (Magellan's Spot) or "''Black Magellanic Cloud''" in opposition to the

Magellanic Clouds The Magellanic Clouds (''Magellanic system'' or ''Nubeculae Magellani'') are two irregular dwarf galaxies in the southern celestial hemisphere. Orbiting the Milky Way galaxy, these satellite galaxies are members of the Local Group. Because both ...

. The Coalsack is omitted in most of today's standard catalogs on the Milky Way such as the

New General Catalogue The ''New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars'' (abbreviated NGC) is an astronomical catalogue of deep-sky objects compiled by John Louis Emil Dreyer in 1888. The NGC contains 7,840 objects, including galaxies, star clusters and ...

and its only mainstream identification number is in the somewhat specialist

Caldwell catalogue The Caldwell catalogue is an astronomical catalogue of 109 star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies for observation by amateur astronomers. The list was compiled by Patrick Moore as a complement to the Messier catalogue. While the Messier catalog ...

, in which it is C99. The Coalsack in

Australian Aboriginal astronomy Australian Aboriginal astronomy is a name given to Aboriginal Australian culture relating to astronomical subjects – such as the Sun and Moon, the stars, planets, and the Milky Way, and their motions on the sky. Traditional Aboriginal ...

forms the head of the '' emu in the sky'' in several Aboriginal cultures. Amongst the

Wardaman people The Wardaman people are a small group of Aboriginal Australians living about South-West of Katherine, on Menngen Aboriginal Land Trust in the Northern Territory of Australia. Language Wardaman is a non Pama-Nyungan language. Though close to ...

, it is said to be the head and shoulders of a ''law-man'' watching the people to ensure they do not break traditional law. According to a legend reported by W. E. Harney, this being is called ''Utdjungon'' and only adherence to the tribal law by surviving tribe members could prevent him from destroying the world with a fiery star. There is also a reference by Gaiarbau (1880) regarding the coalsacks replicating bora rings on Earth. These astronomical sites allowed the spirits to continue ceremony similar to their human counterparts on Earth. As bora grounds are generally located on the compass points north–south, the southern coal sack indicates the initiation/ceremonial ring. In

Inca The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

astronomy this nebula was called ''Yutu'', meaning ''a partridge-like southern bird'' or

Tinamou Tinamous () form an order of birds called Tinamiformes (), comprising a single family called Tinamidae (), divided into two distinct subfamilies, containing 46 species found in Mexico, Central America, and South America. The word "tinamou" come ...

In fiction

The Coalsack is mentioned in the ''

Star Trek: The Original Series ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' (''TOS'') to distinguis ...

'' episodes " The Immunity Syndrome" and "

Let That Be Your Last Battlefield “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” is the fifteenth episode of the third season of the original American science fiction television show ''Star Trek''. Written by Oliver Crawford (based on a story by Gene L. Coon, writing under his pen nam ...

", as well as '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' by Arthur C. Clarke. In the Solar Queen series by

Andre Norton Andre Alice Norton (born Alice Mary Norton, February 17, 1912 – March 17, 2005) was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy, who also wrote works of historical and contemporary fiction. She wrote primarily under the pen name ...

, several characters swear "...by the Coalsack's Ripcord!" The Coalsack figures prominently in the

Larry Niven Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His best-known works are ''Ringworld'' (1970), which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards, and, with Jerry Pournelle, ''The Mote in God's Eye'' ...

and

Jerry Pournelle Jerry Eugene Pournelle (; August 7, 1933 – September 8, 2017) was an American scientist in the area of operations research and human factors research, a science fiction writer, essayist, journalist, and one of the first bloggers. In the 1960s ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

The Mote in God's Eye ''The Mote in God's Eye'' is a science fiction novel by American writers Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, first published in 1974. The story is set in the distant future of Pournelle's CoDominium universe, and charts the first contact between hu ...

'' and its sequels, ''

The Gripping Hand ''The Gripping Hand'' is a science fiction novel by American writers Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, published in 1993. A sequel to their 1974 work '' The Mote in God's Eye'', ''The Gripping Hand'' is, chronologically, the last novel to be se ...

'' and '' Outies''. Also,

Henry De Vere Stacpoole Henry de Vere Stacpoole (9 April 1863 – 12 April 1951) was an Irish author. His best-known work is the 1908 romance novel '' The Blue Lagoon'', which has been adapted into multiple films. He published using his own name and sometimes the pseud ...

described the Coalsack in his novel '' The Blue Lagoon'' (1908), as Lestrange observes it from the deck of the ''Northumberland'', "In the Milky Way, near the Southern Cross, occurs a terrible circular abyss, the Coal Sack. So sharply defined is it, so suggestive of a void and bottomless cavern, that the contemplation of it afflicts the imaginative mind with vertigo. To the naked eye it is as black and dismal as death, but the smallest telescope reveals it beautiful and populous with stars. Lestrange's eyes travelled from this mystery to the burning cross, and …" The Coalsack is mentioned in the ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...

'' episode " Hell Is Other Robots". In the film ''

Night on the Galactic Railroad , sometimes translated as ''Milky Way Railroad'', ''Night Train to the Stars'' or ''Fantasy Railroad in the Stars'', is a classic Japanese fantasy novel by Kenji Miyazawa written around 1927. The nine-chapter novel was posthumously published in 1 ...

'' and the original children's story of which it is based from, the journey for the character Campanella ends with him going to the Coalsack. In the film ''

The Chronicles of Riddick ''The Chronicles of Riddick'' is a 2004 American science fiction action film written and directed by David Twohy. It follows the adventures of Richard B. Riddick as he attempts to elude capture after the events depicted in the 2000 film '' Pitc ...

'', the character Imam convinces Riddick to help his people against the Necromongers and says, "The Coalsack planets are gone." In Brian J. Clarke's

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

''The Expediter'', a world of mysterious towers—and the aliens studying them—are found "behind the Coalsack". In the game

Elite Dangerous ''Elite Dangerous'' is a space flight simulation game developed and published by Frontier Developments. The player takes the role of a pilot (colloquially referred to as "Commander" or "CMDR") of a spaceship, and explores a realistic 1:1 scale, ...

players can visit the Coalsack Nebula, designated in the game with the system prefix "MUSCA DARK REGION". In '' The Star Kings'' by

Edmond Hamilton Edmond Moore Hamilton (October 21, 1904 – February 1, 1977) was an American writer of science fiction during the mid-twentieth century. Early life Born in Youngstown, Ohio, he was raised there and in nearby New Castle, Pennsylvania. So ...

Coalsack is the home of The League of Dark Worlds, most powerful military dictatorship in the Galaxy. In Terry Mancour’s Spellmonger series the coalsack and how it’s shadow blacks the fictional world of Calidore from the Hawking radiation emitted from the supermassive black hole at center of the galaxy allows Magic to exist

Gallery

File:Coalsack and Dark Doodad Dark Nebulae.jpg, The Coalsack Nebula can be seen as the large dark region near the top of the photo (the thin long nebula at the bottom is the

Dark Doodad Nebula The Dark Doodad Nebula is a dark nebula near the globular cluster NGC 4372, much closer than the centre of the galaxy and in the galactic plane, having a length of nearly three degrees of arc. Although officially unnamed, this long molecular clou ...

References

External links

Starry Night Photography: Coalsack Dark Nebula

SIMBAD: Coalsack Nebula
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coalsack Nebula Crux (constellation) Dark nebulae 099b