APOD: 2026 July 31 – NGC 4372 and the Dark Doodad - NASA Science
APODAstronomy Picture of the DayDiscover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional. . .
APODAstronomy Picture of the DayDiscover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Explanation:The Dark Doodad Nebula driftsthrough southern skies, a tantalizing target for binoculars toward the small constellationMusca, The Fly. A dusty interstellar cloud, it's seen against rich starfields just south of the Coalsack Nebula and the Southern Cross. Stretching for about 3 degrees across this telescopic field of view,the Dark Doodadis punctuated near its southern tip (upper right) by yellowish globular star clusterNGC 4372. Of course NGC 4372 roams the halo of ourMilky Waygalaxy, a background object some 20,000 light-years away and only by chance along our line-of-sight to the Dark Doodad. About 700 light-years distant and over 30 light-years long, the Dark Doodad's well defined silhouette belongs to thepotentiallystar-formingMusca molecular cloud. The dusty Dark Doodad's delightfully alliterative moniker was first coined byastro-imager and writerDennis di Cicco in 1986 while observing Comet Halley from the Australian outback. Tomorrow's picture:pixels in spaceDateJuly 31, 2026CreditAlessandro Cipolat BaresAuthors & editors:Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Keighley RockcliffeA service of:ASDatNASA/GSFC,NASA Science Activation&Michigan Tech. U.