Your first stop is a black void in the Milky Way just beside the Southern Cross that takes up 26 square degrees of sky.

This region is called the Coal Sack Dark Nebula. Unlike most nebulae, a dark nebula does not emit light. Made up of countless tiny grains of dust, a dark nebula blocks the light from all the stars behind it, which is why this region of sky shows no bright stars even though it's in the band of the Milky Way.

Sweeping the Coal Sack area with binoculars is a delight, especially when you compare it with the bright Jewel Box cluster lurking just to the north. The contrast with the bright Southern Milky Way makes the Coal Sack look darker than any other part of the sky.

The aboriginal Australians saw the Coal Sack as the head of a giant emu.