The most famous telescope in history has reached a major milestone — it’s 35 years old. The Hubble Space Telescope launched on a grand scientific adventure to study the cosmos on April 24, 1990. NASA and the European Space Agency are pulling out all the stops for the telescope’s 35th anniversary with the reveal of four stunning new space images.
The celebratory views include Mars, two nebulas and a galaxy. The variety of targets shows off Hubble’s versatility and ability to see not only into deep space, but also into our own solar system.
NASA dropped a host of superlatives with words like «transformative,» «evocative,» «engaging» and «accessible» in its anniversary release statement. It’s all true. Hubble’s discoveries have been covered in over 22,000 papers, but its influence reaches far beyond science journals. It has shaped the public’s view of our universe through groundbreaking images like the Pillars of Creation and the Hubble Deep Field.
Check out the anniversary images.
Mars, the frosty marble
Earth may be humanity’s favorite planet, but Mars is a close second. Hubble turned its gaze on the red planet at the end of 2024. The crisp views highlight the planet’s northern polar cap at the beginning of the Martian spring. Gauzy clouds make Mars look like a frosty marble.
Planetary nebula NGC 2899, a space butterfly
A white dwarf star lingers at the center of planetary nebula NGC 2899. This is one of the cosmic objects you can let your imagination run wild with. It resembles a misshapen butterfly or a moth in flight. ESA suggested the pinched middle looks like a half-eaten doughnut.
Gas and dust give the nebula its unique look. All this beauty traces to the tumultuous death of its central star.
Rosette Nebula and gas clouds
Hubble’s look at the Rosette Nebula focuses on a small part of a much larger formation.
The nebula is a place of active star formation. «Dark clouds of hydrogen gas laced with dust are silhouetted across the image,» ESA said. «The clouds are being eroded and shaped by the seething radiation from the cluster of larger stars in the center of the nebula.»
Barred spiral galaxy NGC 5335
NGC 5335 is a barred spiral galaxy like our Milky Way. Hubble’s image shows the distinctive bar across the middle of NGC 5335. «The bar channels gas inwards toward the galactic center, fueling star formation,» said ESA. «Such bars are dynamic in galaxies and may come and go over two-billion-year intervals.»
Hubble hangs on
Hubble orbits Earth. Space is a tough place to live. The telescope’s designers planned to get 15 years of use out of it, but Hubble handily outlasted that goal.
Hubble’s longevity hasn’t been easy. The telescope has weathered an array of technical problems over the years. NASA dispatched five space shuttle servicing missions to Hubble, with the last in 2009.
There are no more space shuttles in operation, so the Hubble team handles all fixes from afar. That has meant some big changes to Hubble’s operations, particularly with the gyroscopes that help point it in the right direction. The Hubble team has had to get creative, but they’ve kept the aging observatory up and running and delivering fresh science and imagery.
Every Hubble anniversary feels like a triumph for the elderly space telescope. It may have a few more anniversaries left in it. NASA hopes it will continue operations into the 2030s. Long live Hubble.
