Ever since the Hubble Space Telescope was first launched in 1990, it has captured countless celestial photos across our universe — these are some of the most breathtaking.
A close-up of the planet Mars. NASA, ESA, STScI, J. Bell (Cornell U.), and M. Wolff (SSI)
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An asteroid followed by debris.NASA, ESA, and D. Jewitt (UCLA)
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A stellar swarm, located some 28,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Credit: NASA, ESA, C. Pallanca and F. Ferraro (Universits Di Bologna), and M. van Kerkwijk (University of Toronto); Processing: G. Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
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A photo of the Veil Nebula, located about 2,400 light-years away. The nebula is what remains of a giant star — 20 times the size of the Sun — that exploded some 10,000 years ago.
ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Sankrit
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A spiral galaxy, spotted 100 million light-years away from Earth.ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Sun
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Globular clusters are tightly packed clusters of thousands — or millions — of stars. This one is located about 157,000 light-years from Earth.ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Sarajedini, F. Niederhofer
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A spiral galaxy located roughly 150 million light-years away from Earth.ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Windhorst, W. Keel
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The Tarantula Nebula, located about 160,000 light-years away, is home to some of the largest stars ever documented. ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray
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This globular star cluster is known as Terzan 12, and it's located approximately 15,000 light-years away from Earth.NASA, ESA, ESA/Hubble, Roger Cohen (RU)
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A cluster of stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy, "cocooned" in gas clouds.NASA, ESA, and C. Lindberg (The Johns Hopkins University); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
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This spiral galaxy, known as NGC 2566, is located some 76 million light-years away.ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker
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A small portion of emission nebula Sh2-284, located 15,000 light-years away.NASA, ESA, and M. Andersen (European Southern Observatory - Germany); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
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The spiral galaxy known as Messier 90, or M90, located 55 million light-years from Earth.ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team
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An elliptical galaxy merging with a spiral galaxy, with a tail of stars and gas stretching out more than 362,000 light-years.NASA, ESA and M. West (Lowell Observatory); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
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Io, one of Jupiter's moons, captured as it passes across the planet. John Spencer (Lowell Observatory) and NASA
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The asteroid Dimorphos. NASA, ESA, David Jewitt (UCLA)
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NGC 1672, a barred spiral galaxy 49 million light-years away from Earth, showcasing an impressive array of celestial lights.ESA/Hubble & NASA, O. Fox, L. Jenkins, S. Van Dyk, A. Filippenko, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team, D. de Martin (ESA/Hubble), M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble)
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Galaxy LEDA 1313424, which contains nine stunning star-filled rings. NASA, ESA, Imad Pasha (Yale), Pieter van Dokkum (Yale)
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The colorful spiral galaxy known as NGC 5643, located roughly 40 million light-years away. ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Riess, D. Thilker, D. De Martin (ESA/Hubble), M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble)
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An unusually shaped galaxy, which, according to NASA, doesn't quite fit the definition of being a spiral galaxy or an elliptical galaxy. This one is located about 54 million light-years away from Earth in the Virgo galaxy cluster.ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker
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The sparkling globular cluster NGC 6652, located 30,000 light-years from Earth. ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Sarajedini, G. Piotto
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In this photo, the Hubble Space Telescope captured both a spiral galaxy (NGC 4900) and a notable star. The star is about 7,109 light-years away from Earth, and the galaxy is about 45 million light-years away.ESA/Hubble & NASA, S. J. Smartt, C. Kilpatrick
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A supernova-hosting galaxy located about 600 million light-years away from Earth. ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. J. Foley (UC Santa Cruz)
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Spiral galaxy UGC 5460, which is located about 60 million light-years away from Earth.ESA/Hubble & NASA, W. Jacobson-Galán, A. Filippenko, J. Mauerhan
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A quasar-hosting galaxy with spiral arms and a black hole, which is more than 400 million times the mass of the Sun.NASA, ESA, Kristina Nyland (U.S. Naval Research Laboratory); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
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NGC 4536, a starburst galaxy in which stars are being formed at rapid speeds.NASA, ESA, and J. Lee (Space Telescope Science Institute); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
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The eye-popping Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy about 160,000 light-years away.ESA/Hubble, NASA, and C. Murray
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Spiral galaxy IC 1954, located approximately 45 million light-years from Earth.ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team
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A photograph of summertime on Saturn.NASA, ESA, A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center), M.H. Wong (University of California, Berkeley), and the OPAL Team
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A "cosmic tangle" made up of MCG+05-31-045, two interacting galaxies, which are located 390 million light-years away.ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. J. Foley (UC Santa Cruz)
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A spiral galaxy, NGC 5042, located about 48 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Hydra.ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker
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Protostars HOPS 150 and HOPS 153, "newborn" stars located in the Orion Nebula just 1,500 light-years away.ESA/Hubble, NASA, and T. Megeath
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Spiral galaxy NGC 5248, which is located 42 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Boötes.ESA/Hubble & NASA, F. Belfiore, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team
Supernovas, Black Holes, And Newborn Stars: Explore 33 Beautiful Hubble Space Pictures
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Through the eye of the Hubble Space Telescope, the universe is an endless array of color, light, swirling stars, and psychedelic nebulae. Since its launch in 1990, the telescope has peered into the cosmos, capturing photos of newborn stars, mysterious moons, and treacherous black holes. To date, Hubble has made more than 1.6 million observations — and all of the Hubble Space Telescope images are incredibly beautiful.
In the photo gallery above, look through some of the Hubble Space Telescope's most enchanting images of star clusters, galaxies, and planets. And below, see how this telescope came into being — and what it's discovered in the far corners of the universe over the past few decades.
A Brief History Of The Hubble Telescope
NASAThe Hubble Telescope in outer space in 2009.
Humankind has long stared into space. First, with the naked eye, and then, starting in the 17th century, with the help of the telescope. But it wasn't until the 20th century that scientists began to toy with the idea of putting a telescope in outer space, theoretically expanding its gaze much further.
In 1923, Hermann Oberth, one of the fathers of modern rocketry, published a paper describing how a telescope could be placed in Earth's orbit. In 1946, Princeton astrophysicist Lyman Spitzer described the scientific benefits of putting a telescope in space. But even though the National Academy of Sciences approved the so-called Large Space Telescope (LST) project in 1969, it would take over two decades for the Hubble Telescope to launch.
After various setbacks — including the Challenger disaster in 1986 — the Hubble Telescope was taken into space on April 24, 1990, on the shuttle Discovery. The next day, it was placed into Earth's orbit.
The Incredible Hubble Space Telescope Images
NASAThis is the first image captured by the Hubble Telescope (right) on May 20, 1990, meant to be a "first light test."
The Hubble Telescope's first-ever image, taken on May 20, 1990, was not that remarkable. For starters, it was meant to be a simple "first light test." But it was also blurrier than NASA engineers had envisioned, and they soon realized that there was a flaw with the telescope's primary mirror.
In 1993, this flaw was corrected. And the Hubble Space Telescope images transmitted back to Earth became clearer — and more incredible.
Over the past few decades, the telescope has captured stunning photos of galaxies, nebulae, stars, planets, and more. It's also made a number of scientific discoveries, increasing humankind's understanding of space.
NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)The "Pillars of Creation," a region of the Eagle Nebula that the Hubble Telescope famously captured in 1995.
According to Space.com, the Hubble Telescope discovered new moons of Pluto, offered insights on how gamma ray bursts work, and helped scientists uncover new clues about how dark matter behaves.
The device has undoubtedly revolutionized our understanding of outer space — but the Hubble Telescope won't function forever. As NASA explains, the instrument was only originally expected to function for 15 years when it was first launched in 1990. Thanks to repairs and updates, however, the space agency expects that the telescope will endure into the next decade.
In the meantime, its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, has also started transmitting images back to Earth. James Webb was launched in 2021 and, though its mission was originally meant to last five years, scientists believe it will be functional for over 20 years. That's plenty of time to capture images from the far-off reaches of the universe — and the images that the James Webb Telescope has captured so far are remarkable.
NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Judy SchmidtThe images captured by the James Webb Telescope are even clearer than the Hubble Telescope images.
But that's not to discount the Hubble Space Telescope images. Over its lifespan, Hubble has captured some truly mind-blowing pictures from the universe. In the gallery above, look through just a small sample of the observations that the Hubble Telescope has made since it was launched.
After looking through this gallery of Hubble Space Telescope images and learning about the history of the famous telescope, discover the story of Starfish Prime, when the U.S. detonated a nuclear bomb in outer space. Or, read about Félicette, the first cat sent to space.
A staff writer for All That's Interesting, Kaleena Fraga has also had her work featured in The Washington Post and Gastro Obscura, and she published a book on the Seattle food scene for the Eat Like A Local series. She graduated from Oberlin College, where she earned a dual degree in American History and French.
Jaclyn is the senior managing editor at All That's Interesting. She holds a Master's degree in journalism from the City University of New York and a Bachelor's degree in English writing and history (double major) from DePauw University. She is interested in American history, true crime, modern history, pop culture, and science.
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Fraga, Kaleena. "Supernovas, Black Holes, And Newborn Stars: Explore 33 Beautiful Hubble Space Pictures." AllThatsInteresting.com, May 6, 2025, https://allthatsinteresting.com/hubble-space-telescope-images. Accessed May 23, 2025.
