Spanning across the constellation Ophiuchus, LDN 204 is a dense dark nebula silhouetted against the faint glow of background stars and hydrogen gas. These cold clouds of interstellar dust are so thick that they block visible light, appearing as inky rivers winding through the Milky Way. Within such regions, gravity can eventually pull matter together to form new stars, making dark nebulae both obscuring and nurturing.

This image, a 3x1 mosaic captured in June and July by the collaborative team n_kuadra with the contribution of their colleague Soler Grajera, reveals the remarkable texture and contrast of the nebula. The interplay of black dust lanes and the red backdrop of ionized hydrogen creates a dramatic view of one of Ophiuchus’s hidden stellar nurseries.