Since it launched into space on April 24, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has been an invaluable instrument to astronomers in unraveling the mysteries of the universe.
As it orbits the Earth from 340 miles above, the telescope has imaged distant galaxies, black holes, and planets, making over 1.7 million observations in its lifetime so far, according to NASA.
Scientists have published more than 22,000 studies using its data.
And (almost) every year, the Hubble team chooses a celestial object for the telescope to spend considerable time imaging that year, and releases a special photo to celebrate its birthday.
Here are 36 breathtaking images from Hubble’s 36 years in space.
NASA marked Hubble’s 35th anniversary in 2025 with a composite image of four of the telescope’s photos.
NASA, ESA, STScI
Hubble’s 34th anniversary photo in 2024 showed the Little Dumbbell Nebula.
NASA, ESA, STScI
Hubble photographed a nebula known as NGC 1333 in an image released for its 33rd birthday in 2023.
NASA, ESA, STScI; Image Processing: Varun Bajaj (STScI), Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Jennifer Mack (STScI)
This photo, released in 2022, shows a collection of five galaxies known as the Hickson Compact Group 40.
NASA, ESA, and STScI
NASA celebrated Hubble’s 31st anniversary in 2021 with a photo of the star AG Carinae.
Space Telescope Science Institute Office of Public Outreach/NASA, ESA and STScI
For Hubble’s 30th birthday in 2020, an image titled “Cosmic Reef” showed two nebulae in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
NASA, ESA, and STScI
A photo of the Southern Crab Nebula was shared for Hubble’s 29th birthday in 2019.
NASA, ESA, and STScI
NASA shared a photo of the Lagoon Nebula taken by Hubble in honor of the telescope’s 28th anniversary in 2018.
NASA, ESA, STScI
For Hubble’s 27th anniversary in 2017, four photos were combined into one image showing a pair of galaxies 55 million light-years away.
NASA, ESA, and M. Mutchler (STScI)
Hubble’s 26th birthday image in 2016 showed a bubble nebula between 7,000 and 11,000 light-years away.
NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
A photo of Westerlund 2, a giant cluster of about 3,000 stars, was the 25th anniversary image in 2015.
NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team
Hubble’s 24th anniversary photo in 2014 showed this colorful plume of gas and bright stars, known as the Monkey Head Nebula.
NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team
For Hubble’s 23rd birthday in 2013, the team released this photo of the Horsehead Nebula in the Orion constellation.
NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team
This image of the Tarantula Nebula marked Hubble’s 22nd anniversary in 2012.
NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team
This “rose,” released for Hubble’s 21st anniversary in 2011, showed two galaxies interacting with each other.
NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team
This image of the Carina Nebula was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2010 and released for its 20th anniversary.
NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team
Hubble’s 19th anniversary image in 2009 was titled “Fountain of Youth.”
NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
For Hubble’s 18th birthday in 2008, the team released not one but 59 images of colliding galaxies. Here are 12 of them.
NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team
At the time, this 17th anniversary photo was one of the largest panoramic images ever taken in 2007.
NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team
The Hubble team celebrated the telescope’s sweet 16 in 2006 with this image of Messier 82.
NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team
For its 15th birthday in 2005, the Hubble team released an image of a tower of gas and dust rising from the Eagle Nebula.
NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
This photo of the Lindsay-Shapley Ring Galaxy commemorated Hubble’s 14th birthday in 2004.
NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team
This photo of the Swan Nebula, located about 5,500 light-years away, celebrated Hubble’s 13th anniversary in 2003.
J. Hester (ASU), NASA, ESA
These Hubble photos, released in 2002, helped scientists estimate the age of the universe.
H. Richer/NASA
This eerie image of the Horsehead Nebula was shared on the telescope’s 11th anniversary in 2001.
NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team
Hubble’s 10th anniversary image, released in 2000, showed the planetary nebula NGC 6751.
NASA/ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team, STScI/AURA
In 1999, Hubble took these photos of Jupiter’s moon Io.
John Spencer/NASA
This wacky false-color image of Saturn celebrated Hubble’s eighth year in the sky in 1998.
Erich Karkoschka/NASA
This 1997 image was the sharpest view of Mars ever taken from Earth at the time.
Erich Karkoschka/David Crisp/WFPC2 Science Team/NASA
Hubble’s 6th birthday photo from 1996 shows multiple images of the same primeval galaxy, seen in blue.
W.N. Colley and E. Turner/Princeton University, J.A. Tyson/Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies, NASA
The team didn’t release a specific fifth birthday image, but this photo of the Eagle Nebula was one of the most famous from 1995, titled “Pillars of Creation.”
Jeff Hester and Paul Scowen/Arizona State University, NASA/ESA
In 1994, Hubble captured this image of part of the Great Nebula in the Orion constellation, where stars are born.
C.R. O’Dell/Rice University/NASA/ESA
In 1993, Hubble took a set of images of pulsating stars called Cepheids, which help identify distances in space.
STScI/NASA/ESA
In 1992, Hubble took the first image of the nebula NGC 2440, which contains one of the hottest known stars at the center.
S. Heap/Goddard Space Flight Center/NASA/ESA
The team didn’t officially celebrate Hubble’s first birthday, but this was the first true-color photograph that the telescope took of Jupiter in 1991.
J. Westphal/Caltech/NASA/ESA
And finally, the image on the right was the first image Hubble ever took in space in 1990, showing what astronomers called “first light.”
STScI/NASA/ESA
