![\"Dark](\"https:\/\/cdn.forumcomm.com\/dims4\/default\/efc8bda\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/1440x960+0+0\/resize\/840x560!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum-communications-production-web.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F0a%2F85%2F216682b84a17a4595d53c3caf394%2Fdark-nebula-ldn-1337-mike-brown-s.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSummer is coming soon and with it the best and brightest part of the Milky Way. We still have about a week left to seek that starry sash before the moon returns and spoils the scene. For a memorable view, take a late-night drive to the country. The sky’s not fully dark until after 11:15 p.m., so that means staying up late. But seeing the galaxy’s starry backbone climb the eastern sky allows us to let go and reflect on bigger things. The Milky Way’s hazy appearance comes from billions of faint stars so far away we can’t see them individually. Their combined light transforms into star smoke.<\/p>\n
Even if you’ve never seen the Milky Way with your own eyes, you can easily tell from photos that it’s not one smooth, continuous band of starlight. There are missing pieces here and there along its length. Dark voids. Holes. One long gaping seam running through the center of the wide-angle image even has its own name, the Great Rift. <\/p>\n
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The dark nebula LDN 1337 in Cassiopeia hovers like smoke against a bright, nebulous background glow. Composed of cosmic dust, the dregs of supernovae and material released back into space by aging stars, dark nebulae re-purpose the dust to create new generations of stars. <\/p>\n
Contributed \/ Mike Brown<\/p>\n
In the 19th century, most astronomers considered these relatively empty space, devoid of stars. Basically, starless spaces. Not until the early 20th century did we come to realize we were actually looking at massive clouds of dark, cosmic dust. The paradigm shift was the result of meticulous astrophotography by American astronomer E.E. Barnard and his German counterpart Max Wolf. Photos revealed that the dark splotches had feathered edges and intricate twisted shapes that couldn’t be explained as starless gaps. They resembled the bright nebulae \u2014 clouds of dust and gas where stars are born \u2014 but appeared dark because the dust effectively absorbed starlight behind them. Think of them as nature’s version of blackout curtains. We call them dark nebulae.<\/p>\n
![\"Horsehead](\"https:\/\/cdn.forumcomm.com\/dims4\/default\/20f0ac4\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/1469x945+0+0\/resize\/840x540!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum-communications-production-web.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F7f%2F55%2Faa5feb434d4c8e217889d30778ad%2Fhorsehead-nebula-dec-24-2025-seestar-processed-horizontal.jpg\")
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The dark Horsehead Nebula in Orion is strikingly visible in silhouette against a background bright nebula. <\/p>\n
Contributed \/ Bob King<\/p>\n
In a few lucky instances, dark nebulae are silhouetted against bright nebulae, and we can clearly see their outlines. Or a bright star shining near a dark nebula will gently illuminate its edges and show its shape. Both amateur and professional astronomers love giving names to these fanciful dark blots and wisps. Examples include the Horsehead, Coal Sack, Ink Spot and Pipe. <\/p>\n
Dark nebulae are composed of minute, cigarette-smoke-sized particles of carbon, silicates (rock grains), various ices and metals. The material originates from supernova explosions and the atmospheres of aging stars. The clouds range from a few light-years to roughly 50 light-years across. Deep inside them, it’s bitterly cold, around 400 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. The extreme cold allows the soot-like star dust to clump together under the force of gravity to form new stars. If it were warm inside, molecules and atoms would move faster and fight against gravity’s pull, potentially derailing star formation. <\/p>\n
![\"Cocoon](\"https:\/\/cdn.forumcomm.com\/dims4\/default\/e51634e\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/1024x677+0+0\/resize\/840x555!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum-communications-production-web.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F73%2F02%2Fe569b33b4252a35809cb81263f02%2Fcocoon-nebula-and-barnard-168-s30pro-june-11-2026-processed.jpg\")
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The Cocoon Nebula (right) is a great example of a bright and dark nebula. At right, newborn stars light up one end of Barnard 168, the dark, snaking feature to the left. The complex is located in Cygnus the Swan about 4,000 light-years away. The nebula’s bright central star is only about 100,000 years old. <\/p>\n
Contributed \/ Bob King<\/p>\n
As dark nebulae give birth to new suns, light from the newborns can illuminate their surroundings, turning parts of the dark nebula into a bright nebula, like flicking on a flashlight in a cave. The Orion Nebula is a good example. Even a small telescope will show dark tendrils of nebulosity silhouetted against the bright gases and dust set aglow by young stars. So the next time you’re gazing at the “gaps” in the Milky Way, know that within these wild, seemingly empty spaces new stars are forming, and along with them countless planets, some of which may be fertile for life. <\/p>\n
![\"Bob](\"https:\/\/cdn.forumcomm.com\/dims4\/default\/be82cda\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/648x648+108+0\/resize\/100x100!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffcc-cue-exports-brightspot.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fduluthnewstribune%2Fbinary%2Fbob%20king%20mug_binary_7073070.jpg\")
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