The Hubble Space Telescope’s Finest Photos
Now that the telescope has received its final upgrades, we look back on Hubble's most memorable images from space
- By Joseph Caputo
- Smithsonian.com, May 06, 2009

(Courtesy of NASA)
In April 1990, a tin can the size of a school bus was dropped off 353 miles above the Earth’s surface. Its mission: Take clear pictures of the universe without interference from the planet’s atmosphere. Nineteen years later, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has transmitted hundreds of thousands of spectacular images to astronomers back home. From far-away stars and neighboring planets to evidence of dark matter and the precise age of the universe, these photographs have allowed us to see what once existed only in scientists' computations.
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Comments (66)
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I am 10 years old and I like science.I want to be a scientist when I grow up.I like the pictures that the Hubble telescope has taken.I want to be a scientist that studies outer space.I want to discover a new planet and aliens and go into outer space.I want to learn about other galaxies
from, Hayley Jackson ... p.s. I am a creative young girl who wants to learn more.
Posted by hayley jackson on November 9,2011 | 06:38 PM
Incredible images. Whether you believe in God as I do, or don't as some of the foul mouthed weed smokers don't, it has something for everyone. The images are beautiful enough, to mesmerize any who view them. So enjoy them minus the verbal warfare. I say that that only God is capable of creating these images. It's alright with me if you don't believe. Thank all the people who were involved in presenting this show for us, and thank you Lord for allowing us to view your artwok
Posted by james on September 10,2011 | 02:04 PM
...when i was in school we only had a picture of the moon taken from earth...Today we have so much and it overwhelms me in its complexity and beauty...Everything i see indicates a higher being is responsible for this....Thank you for the great photos and work...
Posted by david place on February 8,2011 | 04:52 PM
What's with all the Bible-thumping in these comments? The photographs are beautiful, but let's get real, folks: they neither prove nor disprove the existence of God.
"The greatest error in philosophy consists of projecting our subjective beliefs onto the objective universe."
-Will Durant
Posted by T.P. Carr on February 7,2011 | 08:43 PM
who those photos are amazing! How the heck did they get those?
Posted by Eli in Ohio on January 23,2011 | 01:00 PM
The universe breathes, sort of. That is, it expands outward for a billion years, then it breathes in for a billion years. So the universe expands for a billion years, and then it contracts for a billion years. We are presently about half-way out in the expanding phase.
I might add that the lines of gravity from the ends of creation converge on Paradise, the exact center of the Master Universe. It is these lines of converging gravity on Paradise that prevent our universe from tracking off wildly into outer space.
All aspects of creation are under the complete control of God the Father on Paradise.
Posted by Ms. LeeJai Cook on September 26,2010 | 05:36 PM
Thanks for taking the time and shooting these pictures. From the Hubble Telescope to the woman or man who takes these pictures. It has widen my horizon. Like that woman from Portugal, I don't have a degree in these fields, however, I like reading and viewing the pictures that the photographers have taken. I hope to share these pictures with my friends.
Thanks, again!
Posted by Pat on September 23,2010 | 05:30 PM
love the photes
Posted by robert randolph on September 22,2010 | 11:06 AM
All my life I've looked to the stars in awe wondering just how this all could've happened so perfectly. I thought that I had seen all that there was to see, but now the Hubble is bringing the far far away closer, I gotta ask myself, what really is out there, and what is next, is there really infinity out there?
Posted by Jacob Sovde III on July 14,2010 | 02:35 AM
I go to this website to find out about hst and oh my god i am astonished i feel like i never knew that telescopes could take good picture
Posted by Jack on May 27,2010 | 01:28 PM
I want to extend my deepest apreciation for all of your beautiful efforts in sharing your wonderful talents with the world. This is truly what love and sharing is all about. You have expressed what God wants us all to see and to know, His unimaginable,incomprehensible works. I write poetry, please inform me as to how are whom might I ask how I might use some of these photos. They go perfect with my new venture.I want to do everything in the legal sense.I pray that you will continue in your worthy efforts.
Posted by Larry Chambers on May 18,2010 | 04:07 PM
WOW! WOWOWOW! I always LOVE seeing the Hubble photos. They are so awe-inspiring! However, I too would like more info in the captions, as to whether this is "visible" light, X-rays, or what. Maybe this is on the Hubble site? Either way, THANK YOU for gathering these togeher for us to see. Great work, all around! I'm proud to have been a taxpayer through the life of the Hubble, and I can't wait to see all the new telescopes' info.
Jeanne in Ohio
Posted by Jeanne Hartzog on April 28,2010 | 12:42 AM
I know that the GOD who created this incredible Universe also gives us the DESIRE to see into where LIFE has evolved. It makes all of us realize that the petty wars we fight over GOD are meaningless--to the beauty of GOD in that eternal ever expanding UNIVERSE of "DARK MATTER" as only 5% of the Universe is VISIBLE--the rest--95% is INVISIBLE!!! This means that what we see is only a tiny portion of the Billions of Gallaxies--that number more than all the grains of sand on all the beaches of earth and the sea--IT IS ALL EXTRODINARY as we all are here on this earthly plane. Each of us has billions of atoms in our bodies--much like the UNIVERSE. My father, worked to build the Hubble Telescope at Lockheed Martin--he would be 100 years old now-Born on the 4th of July in 1909 and I thank him for all that he did to make these photos possible--he died in 1999 and left this great gift behind. We are all so blessed for these FANTASTIC PICTURES!! Thank GOD for GOD!!!!!and my WONDERFUL DAD!!!
Posted by Pamela Kerr on April 15,2010 | 04:46 AM
SETH,I liked your comment on being a self-confessed Luddite - a tongue-in-cheek touch of humour within your 'roundly' expressed opinions - which, thankfully, we're all entitled to.
As to the wonderful images (that we are the first generations able to see), I'm constantly blown away by their beauty and the mind-boggling distances involved.
When my grandparents were born, powered flight was in its earliest known stages, television was a luxury not afforded to my parents as children & penicillin was still a decade or so away from general use.
Such perspective makes me realize & appreciate the massive advances made during my lifetime - some of which have enabled me to see such amazing images. Hats off to our brilliant scientists - who enrich our lives in countless ways and thank goodness for them!
Posted by D Williams on April 3,2010 | 03:43 AM
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