Dark nebula Barnard 343
Image of a dark nebula Barnard 343, present in constellation Cygnus.Facebook/Jeffrey O. Johnson

A primarily dark region in a dark nebula called Barnard 343, in the constellation Cygnus was photographed by an amateur photographer, Jeffrey O. Johnson; his stunning picture shows a thick layer of dust surrounding the dark nebula.

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The nebula Barnard 343 belongs to a group of clouds called Gamma Cygni Complex, in the constellation Cygnus. This group of clouds is guesstimated to be around 2,000 light-years away from Earth.

The distance travelled by light in a year is called a Light Year, it is approximately equal to 9 trillion kilometres (6 trillion miles).

Johnson is an astrophotographer who took the picture from his backyard in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

"I took this image after I found the dark area when looking at a star map (Google Sky) and looking specifically for dark nebulae. I thought it was fascinating, though I never saw a clear image of it, so I decided to image it myself. It is still one of my favourite objects," Johnson stated in an email to Space.com.

You could enjoy some more amazing photos taken by Johnson on his website.