33 YEARS OF HUBBLE

The Hubble Space Telescope has astounded for decades, returning breathtaking images and groundbreaking science from its position high above Earth

- Nikole Robinson

No mission has ever captured the public’s imagination quite like Hubble. Since its launch on 24 April 1990, the venerable space telescope has made over 1.5 million observations of planets, star clusters, nebulae and galaxies that not only look stunning, but have furthered our understanding of the universe. From its position in orbit 535 kilometres (332 miles) above our planet, Hubble is free from the atmospheric distortion that plagues ground-based observatories, giving it a clear picture. But this wasn’t always the case. The first images Hubble returned were distorted; astronomers concluded that the telescope’s main mirror had been sent into space flawed. Corrective optics were devised, installed by a Space Shuttle mission in 1993, and from then on its place among the stars was cemented. Even with its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, now operational, Hubble shows no signs of slowing down.

WESTERLUND 2
23 APRIL 2015

Stars burst to life in this mesmerising image, with topaz and amethyst-hued clouds of gas and dust lit up by the harsh radiation of the thousands of young stars speckled across the background sky. For Hubble’s 25th anniversary, astronomers focused the telescope on a region known as Gum 29, 20,000 light years away in the constellation of Carina. The stellar firework just right of centre is Westerlund 2, a cluster of stars estimated to be just 2 million years old.

MESSIER 51 AND NGC 5195
25 APRIL 2005

Known as the Whirlpool Galaxy due to its glittering arms, Messier 51 is a grand-design spiral galaxy 25,000 light years away. Its sweeping swirls are where new stars are being born from dense hydrogen clouds, while its yellow centre is much older.