Hubble Space Telescope
Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.
![Hubble Space Telescope in space with Earth in the background.](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/hubble-space-telescope-hst-6.jpg?w=4096&format=jpeg)
Pillars of Creation Star in New Visualization from NASA’s Hubble and Webb Telescopes
Made famous in 1995 by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the Pillars of Creation in the heart of the Eagle Nebula have captured imaginations worldwide with their arresting, ethereal beauty.
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What 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 Nebula](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/hubble-nebula-orion-nebula-display-jpg.webp?w=4096&format=png)
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A New View of the Universe
How 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 More![Hubble as seen from space shuttle](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/s125e006669_orig-jpg.webp?w=4096&format=png&crop=1)
Science, Technology, Culture: Hubble's Growing Legacy
From cultural touchstone to technological influencer, Hubble has left its mark on Earth
Hubble 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 More![The Hubble Telescope in space gripped by the space shuttle's robotic arm.](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/hubble-deploy-discovery-jpg.webp?w=4096&format=png&crop=1)
Discovering the Unimagined
Hubble 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 More![a packed field of galaxies and curved blue streaks](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/stsci-h-p1720a-f-4164x4634-1.png?w=4096&format=png&crop=1)
An Observatory for the Ages
Even after three decades in the harsh environment of space, Hubble is still at the peak of its scientific capability
Designed 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 More![Photograph of the Hubble Space Telescope over the earth](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/28045752710_6a9cca2c72_k-jpg.webp?w=4096&format=png&crop=1)
New Image
Hubble Sees New Star Proclaiming Presence with Cosmic Lightshow
Hubble 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 More![A 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.](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/hubble-fstau-acs-flat-final2.jpg?w=4096&format=jpeg)
Hubble’s Universe
Hubble Images