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Hubble Space Telescope

The first of NASA’s four Great Observatories. Astronauts aboard space shuttle Discovery deployed Hubble Space Telescope on April 25, 1990. It was the first big telescope designed to escape the blurring effects of Earth’s atmosphere, allowing it to see the universe more clearly than any other telescope. Its observations showed that the universe is about 13.7 billion years old. They also provided some of the first evidence of “dark energy” — a force that’s causing the universe to expand faster as it ages. Several repair and refurbishing missions by shuttle astronauts have kept the telescope going and vastly improved its scientific capabilities. It is expected to continue operating until around 2015.

Resources

Astronomers and Observatories June 10, 2010

Radio Programs

Beauty and the Beast A cosmic “Beauty and the Beast” August 4, 2023

Dynamic Butterfly Big changes for a butterfly July 18, 2023

A New Twist A new twist on a well-known galaxy March 14, 2023

Moon and Jupiter Diving into a deep ocean December 1, 2022

Cosmic Puzzle Getting the numbers right September 13, 2022

Growing Planet Watching a young planet grow June 4, 2022

Moon and Jupiter A giant storm speeds up December 8, 2021

Smith’s Cloud Getting ready for some fireworks December 2, 2021

Eagle Nebula The “eggs” of a celestial eagle August 8, 2021

Stingray Nebula A stingray loses its shape March 21, 2021

Disappearing Planet A bright star loses a planet November 20, 2020

Proxima Centauri C Digging up a new planet August 24, 2020

Aging Explorers Keeping aging explorers at work April 30, 2020

Fomalhaut Taking the picture of a distant world October 7, 2019

Neptune Opposition II A tiny new moon for Neptune September 7, 2019

Massive Milky Way Taking the measure of the Milky Way June 24, 2019

Hubble Constant Measuring the expanding universe June 13, 2019

Fixing Hubble Fixing Hubble’s blurry vision December 3, 2018

Galactic Smash-Up A smash-up for some bright neighbors September 26, 2018

NGC 6397 Taking the measure of a star cluster August 12, 2018

Seeing Deep Looking deep into the early universe November 21, 2017

Fomalhaut The busy environs of a bright star October 7, 2017

Featured Images

Ghostly clouds of hot gas glow bright blue against a background of many distant galaxies

Ghostly Gas March 31, 2023
hubble space telescope images show aftermath of dart impact into an asteroid

Big Impact March 3, 2023
merging galaxies from webb, hubble space telescopes

Dual Merger October 27, 2022
james webb space telescope view of the pillars of creation

New Look at Starbirth October 23, 2022
Hoag's Object, an unusual ring galaxy

Hitting the Bullseye July 24, 2022
hubble space telescope view of jupiter and europa

Busy Giant July 17, 2022
carbon star cw leonis

Sooty Star June 22, 2022
hubble view of distant galaxies

Galaxies Aplenty May 26, 2022
hubble space telescope view of the globular cluster Terzan 5

Stellar Graveyard May 20, 2022
view of the coma galaxy cluster

Galaxies Galore April 3, 2022
hubble space telescope view of aftermath of supernova 1987a

Super Remnant February 22, 2022
Veil Nebula in Cygnus seen by HST

Cosmic Veil January 27, 2022
dust in flame nebula

Dark Flame November 24, 2021
hubble space telescope portraits of jupiter, saturn, uranus, neptune

The Neighbors November 20, 2021
supernova 2020fqv in the butterfly galaxies

Early Blast October 28, 2021
Messier 15, a globular star cluster

Relics October 3, 2021
A stellar nursery known as the Pillars of Creation

Pillars of Creation August 8, 2021
Saturn from Hubble Space Telescope

Saturn at Its Best August 1, 2021
spiral galaxy ARP-MADORE0002-503

Back to Work July 22, 2021
hubble view of the core of the milky way

Galactic Heart July 5, 2021
Hubble Space Telescope images of the Stingray Nebula taken 20 years apart

Fading Ray March 21, 2021
hubble space telescope view of rings of uranus

Seeing Rings March 16, 2021
Hubble Space Telescope sequence of a supernova explosion

Cosmic Fireworks December 29, 2020
Multi-spectral view of Cassiopeia A, a supernova remnant

Brilliant Demise October 26, 2020
Possible ice plumes from Europa

Cold Volcanoes? August 28, 2020
Wide-angle and close-up views of Comet NeoWISE

Cometary Close-Up August 24, 2020
2019 Hubble Space Telescope view of Saturn and its rings

Bright Rings July 19, 2020
Hubble Space Telescope view of Messier 10

Impressive Family May 31, 2020
Hubble Space Telescope image of Comet Atlas

Breaking Up May 2, 2020
Hubble Space Telescope in the cargo bay of space shuttle Atlantis, April 2009

Last Call April 30, 2020
Hubble Space Telescope view of Messier 83, the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy

Mini Milky Way April 27, 2020
ngc 2014, ngc 2020

Stellar Reef April 25, 2020
Multi-wavelength view of Messier 106

Arming a Galaxy April 5, 2020
Hubble Space Telescope view of galaxy NGC 4449

Windy Galaxy March 25, 2020
Messier 2

Spicy Cluster November 29, 2019
Hubble Space Telescope view of a pair of interacting galaxies

Beautiful Collision November 4, 2019

Busy Neighbor October 26, 2019
Hubble Space Telescope view of Saturn, June 2019

Ringed Splendor September 14, 2019
Segment of Veil Nebula

Unveiling a Supernova August 30, 2019
NGC 6052

Messy Merger August 20, 2019
Artist's concept of a super-heated planet

Scalding Planet August 2, 2019
Ring Nebula

Last Gasp July 4, 2019
Hubble Space Telescope after its final servicing mission

Last Look May 18, 2019
HST view of M3

Stars Everywhere April 29, 2019
dust tails behind a disintegrating asteroid

Dusty Demise April 1, 2019
Hubble Space Telescope views of Uranus, Neptune

Big Storms February 10, 2019
Hubble Space Telescope view of D100, a galaxy that is losing gas as it plummets into the Coma Cluster

Running Out of Gas January 25, 2019
Hubble Space Telescope view of the Triangulum Galaxy

Close Look at a Close Neighbor January 11, 2019
Hoag's Object, a ring galaxy

Galactic Ring November 7, 2018
Hubble Space Telescope view of Messier 101

Twisted Galaxy November 5, 2018
Hubble Space Telescope view of NGC 6624

Home to a Black Hole? October 26, 2018
Hubble Space Telescope view of Messier 30

Bright Interloper October 10, 2018
Debris disk around a neutron star

Stellar Afterlife September 19, 2018
Hubble Space Telescope image of Saturn and several of its moons

Just Spinning Along September 16, 2018
HST view of galaxies near the Big Dipper

Galaxies, Galaxies, Galaxies August 31, 2018
Hubble view of NGC 6397, a globular star cluster

Stellar Lab August 12, 2018
the merging galaxy ngc 3256

Galactic Mash-Up June 2, 2018
Hubble Space Telescope view of spiral galaxy M64, the Black-Eye Galaxy

Galactic Black Eye May 13, 2018
Hubble view of Jupiter, 2014

Beautiful Giant May 7, 2018
Hubble Space Telescope view of the core of the Lagoon Nebula

Colorful Nursery April 24, 2018
Combined optical, infrared view of the Crab Nebula

Colorful Crab April 19, 2018
Hubble Space Telescope view of NGC 3344

Galactic Beauty February 15, 2018
A Hubble Space Telescope view of the galaxy NGC 1316

Odd Giant December 19, 2017
Hubble view of Abel 370 galaxy cluster with intervening asteroids

Interlopers November 5, 2017
Hubble Space Telescope views shows the oblateness of Saturn

Squashed Planet October 23, 2017
The most distant active comet yet seen

Distant Snowball October 3, 2017
Seyfert's Sextet

Four-Member Sextet September 28, 2017
Hubble Space Telescope image of galaxy cluster Abell 370

Galactic Pile-Up May 15, 2017
HST view of 47 Tucanae

Star Globe May 9, 2017
Hubble view of hundreds of galaxies

Galaxy Glut May 5, 2017
Hubble Space Telescope view of galaxy M100

Grand Spiral April 19, 2017
Hubble Space Telescope view of galaxy NGC 6503

Island Universes April 17, 2017
HST view of Messier 82

Busy Galaxy March 26, 2017
HST view of Uranus and its moons and rings

New Moons? February 25, 2017
Hubble Space Telescope view of NGC 248 in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Bright Gas December 22, 2016
Hubble Space Telescope view of the galaxy NGC 1300

Star Bar December 18, 2016

Swirling Galaxy December 3, 2016
Composite view showing plumes of water eruption from Jupiter's moon Europa

Wet Moon September 26, 2016
Hubble Space Telescope view of M63

Galactic Sunflower August 26, 2016
Hubble Space Telescope view of a gravitational lens

Galactic Lens July 22, 2016
Elliptical galaxy NGC 1600

Biggest of the Big June 28, 2016
V1331 Cygni, a newly forming star

Almost There June 14, 2016

Close Neighbor May 20, 2016
Hubble view of Bubble Nebula

Bubbly Star April 21, 2016
NGC 6543, the Cat's Eye Nebula

Pure Artistry April 9, 2016
Hubble view of M51, the Whirlpool galaxy, and its companion galaxy

Whirling Along March 3, 2016
Auroras on Jupiterk

Polar Rings February 22, 2016
Hubble Space Telescope view of the Gliese 229 system

Faint Neighbors February 7, 2016
Planetary nebula known as the Eskimo Nebula

Cyclops? November 29, 2015
Hubble view of galaxy Markarian 231

Double Double November 22, 2015
Hubble view of the Eta Carinae system

The Homunculus October 21, 2015
Two views of Messier 22

Stellar Sparkler August 24, 2015
Hubble Space Telescope image of the Lagoon Nebula

Colorful Lagoon July 31, 2015
Hubble Space Telescope view of the core of M13, a globular cluster in Hercules

Old Sparklers May 12, 2015
Hubble Space Telescope image of a young star cluster

Anniversary Portrait April 23, 2015
Hubble Space Telescope view of Abell 2744, a massive galaxy cluster

On the Frontier March 9, 2015
Hubble Space Telescope view of V838 Monocerotis in 2006

Brilliant Echo February 11, 2015
Hubble image of the aftermath of a galactic collisio

Beautiful Disruption January 30, 2015