This 100 meter infrared image of the Rho Oph molecular cloud complex is a composite of many taken by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS). Although the image represents an area roughly the same size as that of the optical image, it looks very different from the optical view. Much of what was dark in optical wavelengths is bright here. The gas and dust in this image are extremely cold, somewhere around 30 degrees Kelvin. The dark areas, which obscure stars and regions of bright nebulosity behind them, are even colder.