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Hubble Celebrates Nation's 250th Birthday

July 1-4, 2026
Follow the festivities here and on social media @NASAHubble!

A packed, roughly spherical cluster of red, white and blue stars shines against the black background of space. The stars are clustered most densely toward the center of the cluster.

One of the United States' most productive scientific missions will commemorate the nation’s 250th birthday with new red, white, and blue views of space, along with a look back at stunning cosmic captures from previous Independence Days. Plus, an expanded edition of the “What Did Hubble See on Your Birthday?” activity serves as the ultimate birthday gift: now offering five different views taken on every day of the year.

Celebrate with Hubble from July 1-4 and follow @NASAHubble on social media!

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What Did Hubble See On Your Birthday?

What Did Hubble See on Your Birthday?

To celebrate the nation's 250th birthday, NASA expanded this web app with more images! See what Hubble observed on your birthday, or other special occasion, pick your favorite images, and share them with friends!

Check Out Your Birthday! about What Did Hubble See on Your Birthday?
A bright binary star surrounded by a colorful nebula on the black background of space. The star in the center is a large white spot surrounded by a circular glow. It has a large, X-shaped set of diffraction spikes around it. The nebula extends far above, below, left and right of the star in long, arcing shapes made of thin, multicolored filaments — mostly red and greenish colors, but lit in a bright cyan near the star where its light illuminates the gas.

13 Images for the Nation's 13 Original Colonies

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope commemorates the nation's 250th birthday with a fireworks display in the colors of the cosmos. Enjoy this collection of images captured on July 4th over Hubble’s 36-year history.

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Image Collection

The Fourth of July Through Hubble’s Eyes

Chance Alignment Between Galaxies Mimics a Cosmic Collision

Hubble and the Declaration of Independence

Although the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights are protected in argon-filled glass casings, they can still suffer damage from light, vibration, and humidity, and their ink may fade, flake, or wear off.

The Charters of Freedom Monitoring System was designed to scan these documents using detector technology developed for Hubble. The system revealed degradation invisible to the human eye, allowing conservators to act early to halt the deterioration.

Learn More: Document Monitor about Hubble and the Declaration of Independence
A letter "R" on a historic document is shown in pink outlined in blue, as a result of false-color imaging. The R is speckled with blue. The background of the document is primarily yellow, with swaths of green and blue.
This false-color image, generated by the Charters of Freedom Monitoring System, shows where ink began flaking on a historic document.
NASA
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