This wide-field image shows a spectacular area of dark and bright clouds that are part of a region of star formation in the great constellation Ophiuchus (the Serpent Bearer). This photograph was created from images that are part of the Digitized Sky Survey.Ophiuchus lies between Aquila, Serpens, Scorpius, Sagittarius, and Hercules, northwest of the center of the Milky Way. The southern part lies between Scorpius to the west and Sagittarius to the east. In the northern hemisphere, it is best visible in summer. It is opposite Orion. Ophiuchus is depicted as a man grasping a serpent; the interposition of his body divides the snake constellation Serpens into two parts, Serpens Caput and Serpens Cauda. Ophiuchus straddles the equator with the majority of its arealying in the southern hemisphere. Rasalhague, its brightest star, lies near the northern edge of Ophiuchus at about 12½°N declination.