This image of the NASA / ESA Hubble spatial telescope presents a sparkling cloudy landscape of one of the galactic neighbors of the Milky Way, a dwarf galaxy called the large Magellanic cloud. Located at 160,000 light years in the DORADO and MENSA constellations, the large Magellanic cloud is the largest of the many satellite galaxies in the Milky Way.
This view of dusty gas clouds in the large Magellanic cloud is possible thanks to Hubble’s cameras, such as the large large camera 3 (WFC3) which collected the observations of this image. WFC3 contains a variety of filters, and each leaves through wavelengths or specific light colors. This image combines observations made with five different filters, some of which capture ultraviolet and infrared light that the human eye cannot see.
The vaporous gas clouds in this image look like the bright color dad. During the visualization of a cosmic scene in bright colors, it is natural to wonder if the colors are “real”. After all, Hubble, with its 7.8 feet wide (2.4 m) mirror and its advanced scientific instruments, does not look like a typical camera! When image processing specialists combine raw filtered data in a multicolored image like this, they attribute a color to each filter. Visible light observations generally correspond to the color that the filter allows. Short lighter wavelengths of light such as ultraviolets are generally attributed in blue or purple, while the longer wavelengths like the infrared are generally red.
This set of colors is closely representing reality while adding new information from parts of the electromagnetic spectrum that humans cannot see. However, there are possible color combinations that can be used to obtain a particularly aesthetic or scientifically insightful image.
Find out how the Hubble images are taken and treated.
Text credit: ESA / Hubble
Image credit: ESA / Hubble & Nasa, C. Murray
