Hubble has helped to define the shape of the Ring Nebula, revealing it to be doughnut shaped, with lower density material at its core. Credit: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration

Hubble highlights: 16 of the space telescope's most iconic images

A selection of some of the best images produced by the Hubble Telescope over the past 30 years.

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Iain Todd

Published: April 24, 2020 at 7:50 am

For 30 years the Hubble Space Telescope has been creating stunning images of the cosmos, revealing galaxies, nebulae, globular clusters and the bodies of the Solar System for the world to see. When Hubble eventually is retired, astronomers will still have decades' worth of data to analyse, but for the public, the space telescope's iconic images are what will truly live on in memory.

We've put together a selection of just some of Hubble's most incredible images. To find out more about Hubble's amazing science and to see more images, visit the Hubble Space Telescope's websites at hubblesite.org and spacetelescope.org.

Read more about the Hubble Space Telescope:

Hubble has helped to define the shape of the Ring Nebula, revealing it to be doughnut shaped, with lower density material at its core. Credit: Credits: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration
Revealing the detailed beauty of Jupiter’s clouds, this image shows the intense colour palette of the Great Red Spot and is proof that the storm – which has raged for over 150 years – is shrinking. Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center) and M.H. Wong (University of California, Berkeley)
One of Hubble’s most iconic images, the Eagle Nebula’s Pillars of Creation unveils the multicoloured glow of gas clouds interspersed with wispy tendrils of dark cosmic dust. Originally captured in April 1995 (see inset), the new image was released almost 20 years later. It captures more detail on the rust-coloured elephant trunks of the nebula’s legendary pillars. The dust and gas in these is seared by the radiation from nearby young stars. The nebula is 7,000 lightyears away. Credit: NASA, ESA/Hubble and the Hubble Heritage Team
The sharpest view ever taken of the Orion Nebula, 1,500 lightyears away, reveals over 3,000 stars of differing sizes nestling within the vast cavern of rolling dust and gas. Credit: NASA, ESA, M. Robberto ( Space Telescope Science Institute/ESA) and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team
Hubble’s stunning image of the gigantic Pinwheel Galaxy, M101, was captured over 10 years. It shows the detail of the galaxy’s spiral arms, which are sprinkled with large regions of star-forming nebulae. Credits: Hubble Image: NASA, ESA, K. Kuntz (JHU), F. Bresolin (University of Hawaii), J. Trauger (Jet Propulsion Lab), J. Mould (NOAO), Y.-H. Chu (University of Illinois, Urbana) and STScI; CFHT Image: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/J.-C. Cuillandre/Coelum; NOAO Image: G. Jacoby, B. Bohannan, M. Hanna/NOAO/AURA/NSF
To celebrate its 23rd year, Hubble released this dramatic infrared view of the Horsehead Nebula, revealing a fragile-lookng structure with folds of gas and dust. Credit: Copyright: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI)
Carina Nebula 23 April 2010. Hubble captures the turbulent cosmic pinnacle within a tempestuous stellar nursery called the Carina Nebula. Stacks of gas and dust, ‘Pillars of Creation’, are three lightyears tall. Credit: NASA, ESA, M. Livio Hubble 20th Anniversary Team (STScI)
In 2015 Hubble captured three of Jupiter’s Galilean moons parading across the planet’s face. The start of the transit (above, left) shows Callisto on the left-hand side with Io on the right. In the next image (above, right) Europa enters on the lower left with slow-moving Callisto above and to its right. Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
Located in the constellation of Pegasus, 35,000 lightyears away, M15 is one of the oldest-known globular clusters – dating back 12 billion years. Hubble captured the swarming hot blue and cooler golden stars that become more concentrated towards M15’s bright core. Credit: ESA, Hubble, NASA
A Hubble Space Telescope image of Mars showing the stages of its moon Phobos's orbit. Credit: NASA, ESA and Z. Levay (STScI) Acknowledgment: J. Bell (ASU) and M. Wolff (Space Science Institute)
This Hubble image of star cluster Westerlund 2 and the surrounding region was captured by the space telescope and released in 2015 to mark its 25 anniversary. Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), A. Nota (ESA/STScI), and the Westerlund 2 Science Team
Pearl Jam fans may recognise this famous Hubble image of The Hourglass Nebula. It appeared on the front cover of their 2000 album Binaural. Credit: Raghvendra Sahai and John Trauger (JPL), the WFPC2 science team, and NASA/ESA
Spiral galaxy NGC 5468. Credit ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Riess et al. / Acknowledgements: Judy Schmidt (Geckzilla)
Veil Nebula 24 September 2015. A small section of the outer shell of the Veil Nebula, the remnant of a star’s violent death 8,000 years ago. Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
Bubble Nebula 21 April 2016. An expanding shell of gas 10 lightyears across and expanding at the rate of 100,000km an hour. Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
P/2010 A2 2 February 2010. Newly discovered comet-like asteroid P/2010 A2 (now 354P/LINEAR). Analysis of Hubble’s images suggested that its tail was generated by dust and gravel resulting from a recent head-on collision between asteroids. Credit: NASA, ESA and D. Jewitt (UCLA)

Iain Todd

Science journalist

Iain Todd is BBC Sky at Night Magazine's Content Editor. He fell in love with the night sky when he caught his first glimpse of Orion, aged 10.
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