This image was taken with the original Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WF/PC-1) before the First Servicing Mission. It shows stars located in the 30 Doradus nebula and star Cluster, which is in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The Large Migellanic Cloud is a small galaxy neighboring our own Milky Way Galaxy at a distance of 169,000 light years. It is visible to the naked eye from the southern hemisphere.
The brightest star in the picture, known by the catalog number Melnick 34, appears surrounded by a distorted halo of light. This was due to the HST's focusing problem, technically called 'spherical aberration'. Light was spread over four arc seconds of sky instead of being concentrated into a sharp star image as it should have been. Fewer than 30 fainter stars can be discerned in this image.
To see how the view changed after WFPC2 was installed, click here.
Camera: WF/PC-1
Credit: NASA
