The noble Hubble Space Telescope continues to redefine our understanding of the universe as it celebrates an extraordinary milestone of this week – 35 years of Earth’s orbit observed for 35 years.
To commemorate the occasion, NASA and European Space Agency released a series of stunning new images that showcase Hubble’s extraordinary capabilities, from detailed observations of Mars to dramatic stellar nurseries and distant galaxies.
In all respects, telescopes that fundamentally change human understanding of the universe are still at the pinnacle of their scientific capabilities and require observation time in a staggering 6-to-1-to-1 application ratio to available slots.
“Hubble today is at the culmination of scientific returns today due to the dedication, perseverance and skills of engineers, scientists and mission operators,” the official anniversary statement stated.
The journey of the telescope is absolutely smooth. From 1993 to 2009, the initial spherical distortion of the space shuttle crew in its main mirror threatened the entire mission to five high-risk service missions, Hubble’s story is one of human creativity that overcomes the unbearable challenges.
These heroic interventions by astronauts, including members of two missions from the European Space Agency, have enabled Hubble to conduct nearly 1.7 million observations of approximately 55,000 astronomical targets. As of February 2025, the resulting scientific discoveries have produced more than 1.3 million cited research papers.
Before Hubble was launched in 1990, our perception of the universe was severely restricted by the Earth’s atmosphere. Ground telescopes can only be seen half of the universe, and the estimates of the age of the universe vary greatly. Supermass black holes are still theoretical entities, and no planets are confirmed outside our solar system.
Hubble changed everything. Its unparalleled clarity – ten times higher than the traditional ground telescope of the time, and its ability to detect objects in billions, the brightness of revolutionary astronomy that can be seen in the human eye.
Among the most important contributions of the telescope, supermass black holes exist in the centers of most galaxies, the first analysis of the superstar atmosphere and the discovery that leads to dark energy – the mysterious force accelerates the expansion of the universe, an accurate measurement of the rate of expansion of the universe.
Anniversary image collection demonstrates the versatility of Hubble. New observations on Mars reveal that water ice clouds make the red planet brighter in appearance as its Arctic cap goes through the beginning of Martian spring. When these images were captured in late December 2024, the Earth was about 98 million kilometers away from the Earth.
![This is a combination of images of Hubble Space Telescope from Mars taken from December 28 to 30, 2024. At the midpoint of observation, Mars is about 98 million kilometers away from Earth. The thin water ice clouds that are evident in the ultraviolet rays make the red planet look cold. The cold Arctic hat is experiencing the beginning of Martian spring. In the left picture, the bright orange Talls Plateau is visible with its dormant volcanic chain. The largest volcano is Olympus Mons, which pierces the clouds at 10 o'clock near the northwest limb. At an altitude of 21,000 meters, it is 2.5 times higher than Mount Everest. Mars's approximately 4,000 km long canyon system Valles Marineris is a dark, linear, horizontal feature near the left center. In the correct image, the night clouds can be seen high above the eastern limb of the earth. The Hellas Basin within 2,250 km is an ancient asteroid impact feature that seems far away in the south. Most hemispheres are dominated by the classic “shark fin” function (Syrtis Major). [Image description: Two views of planet Mars on a black background of space observed by the Hubble Space Telescope. At left, text: December 28, 2024 20:00 UT. At right, text: December 29, 2024 13:18 UT. In both images, its atmosphere is clear and the surface appears detailed. Most of the planet is shades of orange. At left, the brightest orange area appears in the left half. At right, the brightest orange area is centered and takes on the rough shape of a sleeping mask. In both views, darker surface features are noticeable on the lower half of the planet. These have a mix of orange, blue, and gray hues. At the top and bottom, white regions mark the planet’s polar caps. The entire limb of the planet, its visible edge, has a blue hue. The blue doesn’t form an even circle at the edges, and appears thinner toward the left and right, and thicker in some areas.]](https://scienceblog.com/esa/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2025/04/Mars_December_2024_pillars.jpg)
More distant targets include the planetary nebula NGC 2899, whose violent bipolar gas flows out of gas driven by white dwarf stars at 22,000 degrees Celsius. At about 4,500 light years, what astronomers call “nebula” is pinched in the middle.
Another highlight is a small part of the huge Rose Rock Nebula, a star-shaped region spanning 100 light years and 5,200 light years from Earth. The image of Hubble only looks at the cross section of 4 light years, about the distance between our sun and Alpha Centauri, revealing the dark hydrogen clouds are carved by the radiation of large nearby stars.
The scattered spiral galaxy NGC 5335 rounded the series, showing the star formation of spots on its disks instead of the well-defined spiral arms commonly found in many galaxies. Its central bar structure “leads gas inward toward the center of the Milky Way, and refuels stars form”, about 30% of the observed galaxies, including our own Milky Way.
European astronomers have made particularly effective use of Hubble, over 15% of the observation time of participating in the mission through ESA. Their findings include evidence of an intermediate-mass black hole, away from the huge bright explosion of any host Milky Way, and most notably the identification of the Earendel in 2022 (the most distant single star ever since it existed 12.9 billion years ago, when the universe was less than a billion years old.
In addition to deep space, Hubble continues to reveal the secrets within our solar system. The Opal Project recently celebrated a decade of studying exoplanets, discovering water vapor on Jupiter’s moons Europa and Ganymede, mysterious “spokes” on Saturn’s rings and monitoring changes in the size of Jupiter’s big red dots.
Perhaps most notably, Hubble has gone from pioneer to partner and now works with the James Webb Space Telescope to provide complementary observations across different wavelengths. Webber itself might never have built without Hubble notes revealing the “undiscovered nations” of countless distant galaxies that its designers call “undiscovered nations.”
“Unlike any other telescope before it, Hubble makes people of all ages very relevant, engaging and accessible to astronomy,” the anniversary report said. “Hubble became the ‘telescope of the people’, touching on the thoughts and the emotions of thousands of humans around the world.”
When Hubble entered its 36th year of operation, it showed no sign of slowing down. With its huge data archive, over 400 data data, and continuing to produce groundbreaking science, telescopes that fundamentally change human perceptions of the universe remain an essential tool for astronomers to seek to understand the universe.
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