The Hubble Space Telescope turns 27 on Thursday, marking another milestone for earth’s eye on space that has brought immense amounts of new knowledge down to the home planet during its lifetime.
In a post on its Facebook page, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration noted that “Today’s college undergraduates have not known a time in their lives when astronomers were not actively making discoveries with Hubble data.”
During its lifetime, the great instrument has undergone repairs and upgrades, described in a 2015 Washington Post article as the “equivalent of knee and hip replacement surgery.”
In honor of Hubble’s latest milestone, here are stories about it and images it has produced.
The Hubble Space Telescope, as seen from the International Space State. The Hubble was sent into space in 1990 and has gathered innumerable images and huge amounts of valuable information during its lifetime. NASA Associated Press
Deep-space galaxy
This image provided by the Space Telescope Science Institute, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope, shows a hot, star-popping galaxy that is far, far away, farther than any previously detected, from a time when the universe was a mere toddler of about 400 million years old. Space Telescope Science Institute Associated Press
Ring Nebula
This image made by the Hubble Space Telescope shows Messier 57, the Ring Nebula. A full decade in the making, Hubble rocketed into orbit on April 24, 1990, aboard space shuttle Discovery. NASA/ESA, C. Robert O'Dell Associated Press
Space gas, dust
This February 2010 image made by the Hubble Space Telescope shows a three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust in the Carina Nebula which is being eaten away by the light from nearby bright stars. Inside, infant stars fire off jets of gas that can be seen streaming from towering peaks. The stellar nursery is located 7,500 light-years away in the southern constellation of Carina. The colors in this composite image correspond to the glow of oxygen (blue), hydrogen and nitrogen (green), and sulphur (red). NASA Associated Press
“Pillars of Creation”
This image made by the Hubble Space Telescope shows the Eagle Nebula's “Pillars of Creation.” With more than 1 million observations, including those of the farthest and oldest galaxies ever beholden by humanity, no man-made satellite has touched as many minds or hearts as Hubble. NASA Associated Press
Galaxies and more galaxies
This image made by the Hubble Space Telescope shows a group of five galaxies known as Stephan’s Quintet. NASA Associated Press
Comet on the move
This March 27, 2014, image provided by shows comet C/2013 A1, also known as Siding Spring, as captured by Wide Field Camera 3 on NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. NASA Associated Press
Space youngsters
This undated image made available by the European Space Agency shows galaxies in the Abell 2744 cluster, and blue galaxies behind it, distorted and amplified by gravitational lensing. The long-exposure image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope shows some of the intrinsically faintest and youngest galaxies ever detected in visible light. NASA Associated Press
Staring at Jupiter
This April 3, 2016, image made available by NASA shows the planet Jupiter when it was at a distance of about 668 million kilometers (415 million miles) from Earth. Jupiter is extra close and extra bright this week, and the Hubble Space Telescope took advantage of the opportunity to make this photo of the gas giant. NASA, ESA, and A. Simon Associated Press
