QUESTION:
What is the Rho Oph dark cloud and where is it? 

ANSWER from Dr. Thomas Roellig on May 16:
The Rho Ophiucus dark cloud (abbreviated Rho Oph) is an 
area that is forming many new stars. It is called a dark cloud because 
there is so much dust that is associated with star forming regions 
that it blocks out most of the light from any stars near-by, making 
the region look dark. Rho Oph is in the constellation Ophiucus (the 
Snake-Bearer) which is high up in the sky at about 2:00 am this 
month. In case you want to look it up on a star chart, the coordinates 
for the star Rho Oph are :

Right Ascension = 16 hours, 23 minutes, 30.8 seconds
Declination = -24 degrees, 320 minutes, 00 seconds

The center of our galaxy is also a region with a great deal of dust that 
blocks the light from the stars there. In fact, there are so many stars 
in the center of our galaxy that if there were no dust blocking their 
light, the galactic center would be bright enough that we could read a 
newspaper by its light. The location of the center of our galaxy is:

Right Ascension = 17 hours, 42 minutes, 29.0 seconds
Declination = -28 degrees, 58 minutes, 48 seconds