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)
Latest News
![Several stars shine against black space. A few foreground stars with diffraction spikes throughout.](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/pegasus-acs-flatcrop-cont-final.jpg?w=4096&format=jpeg)
Hubble Pinpoints a Dim, Starry Mini-galaxy
![A grouping of large, glowing, and purplish stars dominate the image’s center. Dark ridges of gas and dust are visible around them, with more background stars crowding the view.](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ngc346-uv-flat-newv-finalok.jpg?w=4096&format=jpeg)
Hubble Captures Unique Ultraviolet View of a Spectacular Star Cluster
![More closely concentrated near the center, several stars shine against black space along with a few distant galaxies.](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/tucana-dwarf-acs-1-flatcrop-cont-final.jpg?w=4096&format=jpeg)
Hubble Reaches a Lonely Light in the Dark
![A black background dotted with stars and distant galaxies. The distribution of stars increases toward image center, forming the loose oval shape of the irregular galaxy Leo A that stretches horizontally across the image. Three foreground stars shine brightly – one located at center-top, and two others in the lower-right quadrant of the image. Each holds four bright barbs (called diffraction spikes) that extend outward from the star.](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/leoa-acs-1-flatok-final.jpg?w=4096&format=jpeg)
Hubble Finds Structure in an Unstructured Galaxy
HUBBLE SCIENCE
Shoemaker-Levy 9: Interplanetary Impact
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 left an indelible mark on our understanding of the solar system when it collided with Jupiter. Discover the event’s significance and the crucial role NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope played in capturing its dramatic impact.
Hubble's Latest Features
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)
More Hubble Online Activities
Meet Your Cosmic Neighbors
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 Spots Billowing Bubbles of Stellar Floss
Hubble released a new image of N11, a complex cluster of emission nebulae located within the Large Magellanic Cloud – a nearby dwarf galaxy orbiting the Milky Way. About 1,000 light-years across, N11’s sprawling filaments weave stellar matter in and out of each other like sparkling candy floss. These cotton-spun clouds of gas are ionized by a burgeoning host of young and massive stars
Learn More![Glowing clouds of pink and red gas and dust fill the image, along with several stars – foreground stars shine with diffraction spikes, and more distant stars fill the background.](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/lmc-n11-south-lower-flat-cont-final.jpg?w=4096&format=jpeg)
Hubble’s Universe
Hubble Images