Cygnus, also known as the northern cross, is a constellation in the northern hemisphere. This image shows the galactic plane as it cuts through a portion of the constellation. The glowing filaments are clouds of dust and gas between the stars. The bright compact regions are areas of star formation.

For this false-color Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) composite, the 8.28 µm band was mapped to the blue channel, the green channel is a combination of the 12.13 µm band and the 14.65 µm band, and the 21.3 µm band was mapped to the red channel. This image covers about 6.5 x 4.5 degrees in the sky.

Image credit: MSX