In this image, the center of the Milky Way appears to be full of inky black gas. The dark swirling patches are simply the absence of visible light, because huge clouds of dust are obscuring the light from more distant stars. However, just as dust can give the illusion of darkness, it can also give the illusion of light. This is the case with zodiacal light, the diffuse band of light that is seen projected along the constellations of the zodiac. It is caused when sunlight is scattered by the disc of cosmic dust surrounding the inner Solar System. This image was taken at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile.