Hubble Celebrates 36 Years of Space Gossip and Cosmic Selfies
KEY POINTS
- •NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope on April 24, 1990, to orbit 340 miles above Earth and capture cosmic images.
- •For each anniversary, Hubble’s team releases special photos showing space phenomena like the Little Dumbbell Nebula and Hickson Compact Group 40.
- •Hubble has completed 1.7 million observations and contributed to over 22,000 scientific papers unraveling universe mysteries.
Launched way back on April 24, 1990—when dial-up was peak internet—the Hubble Space Telescope is now turning 36 and still hasn’t aged a day, orbiting Earth from 340 miles up like the ultimate cosmic Uber driver. Over its epic lifetime, NASA’s eyeball in space logged a mind-boggling 1.7 million observations, proving even space gets tired of being ignored. The telescope’s annual birthday presents are photo drops of distant galaxies, dying stars like the Little Dumbbell Nebula throwing a red giant collapsing party, and oddly shaped nebulae like macaroni-shaped NGC 2899. With over 22,000 published papers and snapshots of five galaxies that plan to merge in a billion years, Hubble is the oldest, most reliable stalker of space’s secrets—living rent-free in scientists’ brains and Instagram feeds alike.
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(1 of 3)Hubble's been stalking the universe since 1990 with 1.7 million photos nobody asked for but everyone obsesses over anyway.
After 36 years, Hubble’s basically the cosmic version of that one friend who never logs off their science nerd Facebook group.
The Hubble telescope: proving for 36 years that billions of galaxies exist but you can’t get a clear pic of your neighbors’ backyard.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 4/4/2026 | Author: Rebecca Harrington,Talia Lakritz
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