Neighbouring Planets To Faraway Galaxies, NASA Shares Stunning Pics To Celebrate Hubble Telescope's 35th Anniversary

To mark the 35th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope, the US space agency NASA released new high-definition photos taken with the technological marvel. The stunning pictures capture both our neighbouring planets and galaxies far, far away. "Hubble opened a new window to the universe when it launched 35 years ago. Its stunning imagery inspired people across the globe, and the data behind those images revealed surprises about everything from early galaxies to planets in our own solar system," said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters. 

"The fact that it is still operating today is a testament to the value of our flagship observatories, and provides critical lessons for the Habitable Worlds Observatory, which we plan to be serviceable in the spirit of Hubble," he continued, per NASA's blog.

The first picture captures Mars in a rarely seen blue shade. The photo, taken in late December 2024, shows thin water-ice clouds that are visible due to Hubble's ultraviolet capability, NASA said in a release.

The second image shows a distant planetary nebula, NGC 2899, in a colourful, moth-shaped orb. This happens because of an outflow of radiation and stellar winds from a dying, white dwarf star at the nebula's heart, the agency explained.

The dark and stormy Rosette Nebula is shown in the third pic released by NASA. "This is a small portion of the huge star-forming region. Dark clouds of hydrogen gas laced with dust are silhouetted across the image," it said. 

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Lastly, the Hubble telescope even captured snaps of galaxy NGC 5335, which is categorised as a flocculent spiral galaxy with patchy streamers of star formation across its disk. The photo shows a notable bar across the centre of the galaxy, according to NASA.

Notably, the Hubble Space Telescope was first launched on April 24, 1990, and has lived in low-Earth orbit since with the general objective of "understanding the Universe". The telescope, created by Edwin Hubble, has taken countless worldview-shattering photos with its equipped ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light-measuring instruments. 

According to NASA, Hubble has made nearly 1.7 million observations so far, focusing on about 55,000 astronomical targets and resulting in more than 22,000 research papers. It still continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe, the space agency. 

Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency).