Celebrating 35 years of the telescope that rewrote our cosmic textbooks
To mark its 35th anniversary in orbit, NASA and ESA have released stunning new images. This video showcases Hubble's latest discoveries, from the surface of Mars to spectacular star-forming regions, highlighting why this observatory remains a vital tool for modern astronomy.
Launched on April 24, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was designed to bypass Earth's blurry atmosphere, providing views ten times sharper than ground-based telescopes. By observing in ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light, it has captured phenomena ranging from seasonal planetary changes to black hole jets traveling at nearly the speed of light.
The telescope's longevity is due to five astronaut servicing missions between 1993 and 2009, which upgraded its cameras and computers. As of February 2025, Hubble has made nearly 1.7 million observations and contributed to over 22,000 scientific papers. Today, it serves as a crucial teammate to the James Webb Space Telescope.
Source: Hubble’s Highlights from its 35th Year in Orbit
