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 ...MissionsHubble Space TelescopeHubble HomeOverviewAbout HubbleThe History of HubbleHubble TimelineWhy Have a Telescope in Space?At the MuseumHubble by the NumbersFAQsImpact & BenefitsHubble's Impact & BenefitsScience ImpactsCultural ImpactTechnology BenefitsImpact on Human SpaceflightAstro Community ImpactsScienceHubble ScienceScience ThemesScience HighlightsScience Behind DiscoveriesUniverse UncoveredExplore the Night SkyObservatoryHubble ObservatoryHubble DesignMission OperationsMissions to HubbleHubble vs WebbTeamHubble TeamCareer AspirationsHubble AstronautsNewsHubble NewsHubble News ArchiveSocial MediaMedia ResourcesMultimediaMultimediaImagesVideosSonificationsPodcastsE-booksLithographsFact SheetsOnline ActivitiesExplore This SectionHubble HomeOverviewImpact & BenefitsScienceObservatoryTeamNewsMultimediaHubble Space TelescopeSince its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.active MissionWhyWhy a telescope in space?HowHow does the observatory work?WhoWho is the team behind Hubble?Hubble Space Telescope in space with Earth in the background.Throughout the history of science, revolutionary instruments propel our understanding with their landmark discoveries. The Hubble Space Telescope is a testament to that concept. Its design, technology and serviceability have made it one of NASA's most transformative observatories. From determining the atmospheric composition of planets around other stars to discovering dark energy, Hubble has changed humanity's understanding of the universe.Mission TypeSpace TelescopeDestinationLow Earth OrbitLaunchAPR 24, 1990ObjectiveUnderstand the UniverseFeatured VideoHighlights from Hubble's 34th Year in OrbitHubble celebrated its 34th year in orbit by premiering a stunning new Hubble image of the Little Dumbbell Nebula, an expanding shell of gas around an aging or dying star. After more than three decades, Hubble continues to uncover the mysteries of the universe. These are a few science achievements from Hubble’s latest year in orbit.Latest NewsAll Hubble NewsArticle2 min readNASA’s Hubble Pauses Science Due to Gyro IssueHubble space telescope over EarthArticle6 min readNASA’s Webb Maps Weather on Planet 280 Light-Years AwayIllustration showing a hazy blue planet against the black background of space. The planet is in the left side of the frame. The axis is tilted roughly 20 degrees counter-clockwise from vertical. The eastern side (right half) is lit by a star out of view and the western side (left half) is in shadow. The terminator (the boundary between the day and night sides) is fuzzy. There are white patchy clouds visible on the dayside, near the terminator, along the equator, that appear to be originating from the nightside.Image Articlemin readHubble Spots a Magnificent Barred GalaxyArticle1 min readHubble Spots a Magnificent Barred GalaxyA bright, white galactic core shines near the center of the image with a faint bar of stars extending from it, diagonally to the right. Faint, hazy spiral arms encircle the core, with several distant stars and bright blue foreground stars with diffraction spikes scattered throughout the image, all against black space.min readHubble Spots the Little Dumbbell NebulaImage ArticleTaking up most of the image, is a multi-colored nebula in shades of blue, pink, yellow, orange, purple, and white. It appears as two translucent orbs attached by a white band.5 min readHubble Celebrates 34th Anniversary with a Look at the Little Dumbbell NebulaArticle1 week agoA spiral galaxy, seen face-on to the viewer. The bright center of the galaxy is crossed by a glowing bar, and it is surrounded by tightly wound spiral arms, forming a circular shape with relatively clear edges. Faraway galaxies are visible around it, along with a few bright stars, on a dark background. One star to the right of the galaxy is very large and extremely bright with long diffraction spikes.2 min readHubble Captures a Bright Galactic and Stellar DuoArticle2 weeks agoThis is a Hubble Space Telescope image of the barred spiral galaxy UGC 12158. The majestic galaxy has a pinwheel shape made up of bright blue stars wound around a yellow-white hub of central stars. The hub has a slash of stars across it, called a bar. The galaxy is tilted face-on to our view from Earth. A slightly s-shaped white line across the top is a Hubble image is of an asteroid streaking across Hubble's view. It looks dashed because the image is a combination of several exposures of the asteroid flying by like a race car.5 min readHubble Goes Hunting for Small Main Belt AsteroidsArticle2 weeks agoNEW! Science E-BookHubble Focus: Dark UniverseThis new e-book in the "Hubble Focus" series highlights the mission's recent discoveries about two mysterious components of our universe, known as dark energy and dark matter.Read More and DownloadE-book cover for *Hubble Focus: Dark Universe*NASA and STScIHubble's Latest FeaturesJohn Bahcall looks at the camera in front of a bookshelf. He wears a light gray shirt, red tie, and glasses.John BahcallAs one of the founding fathers of Hubble, astrophysicist John Bahcall tirelessly pushed lawmakers for funding and support, while simultaneously contributing to the scientific design of the project.Read MoreAn astronaut on the end of the robotic arm with numerous tools. The blue earth is in the backgroundHubble's Impact on Human SpaceflightThe lessons learned from Hubble’s missions have gone on to influence human spaceflight and alter the way people work in the airless, gravity-free environment beyond our planet’s boundaries.Read MoreIllustration Title: "The Lost Universe" in yellow at the top of the page. A green, yellow, and beige dragon is wrapped around an illustration of the Hubble Space Telescope. The image background is in various shades of blue and black and depicts a dark forest with trees in black silhouette.The Lost UniverseNASA’s first tabletop role-playing game adventure invites you to take on a classic villain as you overcome challenges and embark on an exciting quest to unlock more knowledge about our universe.Begin Your Adventure!Screenshot of the "What is Hubble Observing" tool window. Black background with stars filling the window. Text indicating the target. A bright patch in the center of the window is the Crab Nebula. It appears as a jagged-edged bright cloud.What is Hubble Observing?See the area of sky Hubble is currently investigating or explore its upcoming and past targets.Explore MoreAn analog clock with a red second hand passes time. The Hubble Space Telescope swoops in from the right and time begins to move backward. Dates flash on the screen and the telescope moves to left side of the clock. The clock and dates stop at '13.4 billion years ago."Time Travel: Observing Cosmic HistoryBy observing light from faraway cosmic objects, Hubble acts like a time machine. Light takes time to travel great distances to reach Hubble. Hubble images captured today, show what the objects looked like years ago!Read MoreBlue and orange stars glitter across the image, interwoven with dark clouds of brown dust and bright, glowing regions of blue.New Messier Catalog ImagesWe have added new images to Hubble's Messier Catalog of celestial objects. Explore the catalog for objects you can see through a small telescope or binoculars from a dark sky site.Explore MoreBlack background is dotted with distant galaxies. Image center holds a cluster of galaxies, many of the appear to be large elliptical galaxies. Curved orange-yellow lines appear to cut through the galaxy cluster. These are more distant galaxies gravitationally lensed by the cluster.Nature's Boost: Gravitational LensesThe gravity of massive objects warps space and time, creating a lens that provides astronomers with a powerful tool to extend our view into previously unseen regions of the universe.Read MoreWhat Did Hubble See on Your Birthday?Hubble explores the universe 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That means it has observed some fascinating cosmic wonder every day of the year, including on your birthday.Check Out Your Birthday!Hubble Nebula - Orion NebulaMore Hubble Online ActivitiesSee AllWhat is Hubble Observing?See the area of sky Hubble is investigating.Name that Nebula!Match nebulae with their namesHubble's SkymapGet a Hubble's-eye-view of cosmic objectsHubble Spacecraft 360 Degree TourVirtually Tour Hubble in orbitHubble Astronaut Fun FactsPlay this trivia game and test your knowledge!Control Center 360-Degree TourTake a virtual tour of Hubble's operations centerUnable to render the provided sourceOverviewImpactScienceObservatoryA New View of the UniverseHow did a telescope become a household name and change how we look at the cosmos forever?With over 1.5 million observations and 20,000+ papers published on its discoveries, Hubble is the most productive science mission in the history of NASA. Yet the story of Hubble’s success starts before NASA even existed. It includes adversity, human ingenuity, heroic spacewalks, risk taking, and discovery. Learn the background of one NASA’s most famous missions.Learn MoreHubble as seen from space shuttleAstronauts aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis snapped a still photo of the Hubble Space Telescope after it was grappled by the shuttle's Canadian-built Remote Manipulator System during Servicing Mission 4.  The mission left the telescope at the peak of its scientific capabilities, allowing it to continue furthering our knowledge of the cosmos.NASAScience, Technology, Culture: Hubble's Growing LegacyFrom cultural touchstone to technological influencer, Hubble has left its mark on EarthHubble science has rewritten astronomy textbooks as its discoveries continually provide deeper explanations of astronomical objects and unveil new phenomena. But science isn’t the only way Hubble has impacted our world. From image detectors that are now used in the fight against breast cancer to science images that are used in Hollywood blockbuster movies, Hubble is embedded in our everyday lives and pop culture.Learn MoreThe Hubble Telescope in space gripped by the space shuttle's robotic arm.Held by the space shuttle Discovery’s robotic arm, Hubble is unfurling its solar arrays as it hovers over Earth during its deployment in April 1990. The technology in Hubble and in its ground system has been used for numerous other benefits down here on Earth.NASADiscovering the UnimaginedHubble has not only furthered our knowledge of the known universe, it's shocked the astronomical world with never-before-seen phenomena.When Hubble was launched, no planets around other stars had been discovered, Pluto had only one known moon, and dark energy was not even a concept. With over three decades of observations, Hubble has changed humanity’s understanding of the universe. We now know that black holes exist at the center of almost all galaxies, Jupiter’s massive storm – the Great Red spot – is now shrinking, light can echo just like sound, and the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate. Learn about Hubble’s great discoveries, understand the basics behind Hubble’s scientific capabilities, and explore its incredible images of the cosmos.Learn Morea packed field of galaxies and curved blue streaksAbell 370 is a massive galaxy cluster whose immense gravity distorts and magnifies the light of galaxies behind it. Hubble has used it to push its vision beyond its usual capabilities and see even farther galaxies. Such capabilities have allowed Hubble to change our understanding of all aspects of astronomy.NASA, ESA, and J. Lotz and the HFF Team (STScI)An Observatory for the AgesEven after three decades in the harsh environment of space, Hubble is still at the peak of its scientific capabilityDesigned and built in the 1970’s and 1980’s, Hubble has far surpassed its 15-year life expectancy and produced science never thought possible at the time of its launch. Learn about Hubble’s unique design, the human spaceflight missions that have extended its life, and the ground operations that keep it as productive as ever.Learn MorePhotograph of the Hubble Space Telescope over the earthThis image of the Hubble Space Telescope was taken at the end of the final space shuttle servicing mission to the observatory in May 2009. Hubble's design for servicing, and the operations process on the ground, has allowed Hubble to continually amaze the world with incredible images and new scientific breakthroughs.NASANew ImageHubble Sees New Star Proclaiming Presence with Cosmic LightshowHubble releases a new image of FS Tau, a multi-star system made up of young and newly-forming stars. The two most prominent stars are FS Tau A, the bright star-like object with four bright diffraction spikes near the bottom of the image, and FS Tau B (Haro 6-5B), the bright object to the far right obscured by a dark, vertical lane of dust.Learn MoreA dark cloud of gas and dust sits along the top half of the image. The cloud is illuminated by a bright-white star below it and just to the right of image center. Another bright object, looking like a bright, vertical disk bisected by a dark cloud, sits just to the right of the main cloud and above and to the right of the bright-white star. A jet of bright, turquoise light streams to the left and right from each side of the vertical disk-like object. A section of the jet, to the left, appears to be hidden behind the dark cloud, but emerges from the cloud left of image center. The background is black with rusty hues near the bright-white star.Jets emerge from the cocoon of a newly forming star to blast across space, slicing through the gas and dust of a shining nebula.NASA, ESA, and K. Stapelfeldt (NASA JPL); Image Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)Hubble’s Universe118 ImagesGo To GalleryGo To GalleryHubble ImagesView Images of Hubble Science, Servicing Missions, Operations, Spacecraft, Anniversaries, and more.Explore More HubbleIllustration of the Hubble Space Telescope (left) and the James Webb Space Telescope (right) on a grey background.On The Shoulders of a GiantWhat's the same and what's different? Compare these two NASA flagship missions.Read MoreHubble view of an expanding halo of light around star V838 Monocerotis. Center of the ball-like cloud holds a bright star surrounded by red gas. The outer region of the "ball" is a tan color dotted with stars. Black background dotted with stars.Hubble Science HighlightsHubble has affected every area of astronomy. Its most notable scientific discoveries reflect the broad range of research and the breakthroughs it has achieved.Read MoreHubble Nebula - Crab NebulaExplore the Night SkyYour backyard telescope and binoculars may not have the capabilities of Hubble, but you can still see amazing objects. Compare what you see with the images Hubble has taken.Read MoreHubble Space TelescopeHubble E-booksInvestigate the mysteries of the universe with Hubble. Learn Hubble's history. E-books dive deeper into Hubble discoveries and more.Read MoreKeep ExploringDiscover More NASA MissionsJames Webb Space TelescopeThe image is divided horizontally by an undulating line between a cloudscape forming a nebula along the bottom portion and a comparatively clear upper portion. Speckled across both portions is a starfield, showing innumerable stars of many sizes. The smallest of these are small, distant, and faint points of light. The largest of these appear larger, closer, brighter, and more fully resolved with 8-point diffraction spikes. The upper portion of the image is blueish, and has wispy translucent cloud-like streaks rising from the nebula below. The orangish cloudy formation in the bottom half varies in density and ranges from translucent to opaque. The stars vary in color, the majority of which have a blue or orange hue. The cloud-like structure of the nebula contains ridges, peaks, and valleys – an appearance very similar to a mountain range. Three long diffraction spikes from the top right edge of the image suggest the presence of a large star just out of view.NASA HistoryParker Solar ProbeJuno
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