The Snake Nebula, a Dark Molecular Cloud

The Snake Nebula appears as a small, sinuous lane made up of dark molecular clouds located 650 light-years away in the constellation of Ophiuchus (the Serpent Bearer). The nebula appears as starless void in the sky, as its opaque dusty clouds completely block out the background stars. About the apparent size of the full Moon's diameter on the sky, this dark molecular cloud is a part of a larger complex, nicknamed the Dark Horse Nebula.

The Snake Nebula’s darkness belies the activity within its confines — scientists think the inner regions of it and other molecular clouds serve as significant star-forming regions.

Cataloged by Edwin Emerson Barnard, an American astronomer, the Snake Nebula also goes by the designation Barnard 72. This pioneer of astrophotography published his full list of recorded dark nebulae in a 1919 paper in the Astrophysical Journal, entitled "On the Dark Markings of the Sky with a Catalogue of 182 Such Objects".