Credit: DSS

This visible light image shows a dense region of an interstellar molecular cloud known as a "core". The core is known as L1014, the 1,014th object in a list of dark, dusty "clouds" compiled by astronomer Beverly Lynds over 40 years ago. These have proved to be homes to a rich variety of molecules and are the birthplaces of stars and planets.

The image is from the Digital Sky Survey and is a B-, R-, and I-band composite image (wavelengths ranging from 0.4 to 0.7 microns). The dark cloud in the center of the image is the core, completely opaque in the visible due to obscuration by dust.

The L1014 core lies in the direction of Cygnus. It is thought to be about 600 light years away, but the distance is somewhat uncertain.