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Northern Coalsack
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Northern Coalsack

astronomy
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Quick Summary

The Northern Coalsack is a dark nebula located in the constellation Cygnus. Similar to its more prominent Southern counterpart in Crux, it is a conspicuous dark nebula that appears as a black patch against the starry background. This obscuring effect is due to the nebula's composition of gas and cosmic dust, which reduces the starlight passing through it by 1 to 1.5 magnitudes. The Northern Coalsack is approximately 500 light-years from Earth and spans about 50 light-years in diameter. It has been recognized by Europeans since around 1500 and is also featured in the folklore of Southern Hemisphere peoples.12

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3 Britannica Sources
  1. Coalsack
  2. nebula - 20th- and 21st-century discoveries
  3. nebula - Classes of nebulae

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