Close-up: 'Candyfloss' Clouds of Large Magellanic Cloud Dwarf Galaxy | Hubble

Close-up: 'Candyfloss' Clouds of Large Magellanic Cloud Dwarf Galaxy | Hubble

This NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope picture features a sparkling cloudscape from one of the Milky Way’s galactic neighbors, a dwarf galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud. Located 160,000 light-years away in the constellations Dorado and Mensa, the Large Magellanic Cloud is the largest of the Milky Way’s many small satellite galaxies.

This view of dusty gas clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud is possible thanks to Hubble’s cameras, such as the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) that was used to collect the observations for this image. WFC3 is equipped with a variety of filters, each lets through only specific wavelengths, or colors, of light. This image combines observations made with five filters, including ones that capture ultraviolet and infrared light that the human eye cannot see. 

The wispy gas clouds in this image resemble brightly colored candyfloss. When viewing such a vividly colored cosmic scene, it is natural to wonder whether the colors are ‘real’. After all, Hubble, with its 2.4 meter-wide mirror and advanced scientific instruments, does not bear resemblance to a typical camera! When image-processing specialists combine raw filtered data into a multi-colored image like this one, they assign a color to each filter. Visible-light observations are typically matched to the color that the filter allows through. Shorter wavelengths of light such as ultraviolet are usually colored blue or purple, while longer wavelengths like infrared are typically colored red.

This color scheme closely represents reality while adding new information from the portions of the electromagnetic spectrum that humans cannot see. However, there are endless possible color combinations that can be employed to achieve an especially aesthetically pleasing or scientifically insightful image.

Image Description: A part of a nebula in space. It is made of layers of gas and dust clouds in a range of colors, from blue and green shades to pink, red and black, indicating light emitted by distinct molecules. The background cloud layers are thicker and puffier, though still translucent, and the upper layers are thin and bright at the edges. Behind the clouds are very many small, mostly orange and some blue, stars.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray, N. Bartmann (ESA/Hubble)

Duration: 30 seconds
Release Date: May 12, 2025

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