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15
Years of
Hubble
When
the Hubble
Space
Telescope
rocketed
into orbit
aboard the
Shuttle
Discovery
on April
25, 1990,
the world
of
astronomy
was
forever
changed
for the
better.
The four
images
above only
begin to
describe
Hubble's
ability to
amaze with
both
beauty and
science.
Clockwise
from top
left:
Helix
Nebula:
In 2002,
Hubble
caught
this
dizzying
look down
a
trillion-mile-long
tunnel of
glowing
gases.
Combined
with a
wide view
from a
ground
telescope,
it's one
of the
largest
and most
detailed
celestial
images
ever made.
Close
Encounter
with Mars:
Polar
white
contrasts
with rusty
surface
terrain in
this
August
2003
image,
taken when
the red
planet was
just 35
million
miles from
Earth, its
closest
approach
in 60,000
years.
Eagle
Nebula:
This 1995
photo of
eerie,
dark
pillar-like
structures
has
appeared
on
magazine
covers,
postcards
and
computer
desktops
worldwide.
The
pillars
are
actually
columns of
cool
interstellar
hydrogen
gas and
dust that
serve as
incubators
for new
stars.
Galactic
Cannibalism:
A massive
black hole
hidden at
the center
of nearby
galaxy,
Centaurus
A, feeds
on a
smaller
galaxy in
a
spectacular
collision.
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