Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have taken a stunning image of a spectacular part of a nebula located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the largest of the Milky Way’s many small satellite galaxies.

This new image was made from separate exposures taken in the ultraviolet, visible and infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3).

“This view of dusty gas clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud is possible thanks to Hubble’s cameras, such as the WFC3 instrument that was used to collect the observations for the image,” the Hubble astronomers said in a statement.

“WFC3 is equipped with a variety of filters, each of which lets through only specific wavelengths, or colors, of light.”

“This image combines observations made with five different filters, including some that capture ultraviolet and infrared light that the human eye cannot see.”

“The wispy gas clouds in this image resemble brightly colored candyfloss,” the researchers said.

“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-m-wide mirror and advanced scientific instruments, doesn’t 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.”