These dusty molecular clouds, situated in the vicinity of the Milky Way galaxy, appear to extend a cosmic helping hand. These interstellar clouds are part of a local complex of star-forming interstellar clouds, which include LDN 1358, 1357, and 1355 from the 1962 Catalog of Dark Nebulae, as compiled by American astronomer Beverly Lynds. The obscuring dark nebulae, which present a challenging target for astro-imagers, are situated at a distance of approximately 3,000 light-years from Earth. They are located towards rich star fields in the northern constellation Cassiopeia. At that distance, this deep, telescopic field of view would span approximately 80 light-years.
