Happy Birthday, Hubble! Space Telescope Turns 25 Today

Happy birthday, Hubble! Twenty-five years ago, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit aboard the space shuttle Discovery as the first ever space telescope of its kind. Now, scientists are celebrating its anniversary with some stunning new images.

This latest image from Hubble shows a vibrant picture of the star cluster Westerlund 2. Looking a bit like a burst of fireworks, the giant cluster consists of about 3,000 stars. It resides in a stellar breeding ground known as Gum 29, which is located about 20,000 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Carina.

The pillars that you see in the image are composed of dense gas and dust, and are resisting erosion from the fierce radiation and powerful winds. These gaseous monoliths are a few light-years tall and point to the central cluster. Other dense regions surround the pillars, including dark filaments of dust and gas.

The giant cluster is only about two million years old, but contains some of the brightest, hottest and most massive stars ever discovered. Some of the biggest of these stars are carving deep cavities in the surrounding material by unleashing ultraviolet light and high speed streams of particles.

The image demonstrates the capabilities of Hubble's observational power. Even after 25 years, Hubble is still a strong and present tool in the arsenal of astronomers. Hubble has now set the stage for its companion, the James Webb Space Telescope, which is scheduled for launch in 2018.

While the James Webb Space Telescope has quite a bit of power behind it, it won't replace Hubble. Instead, it will work alongside Hubble to make further observations into the depths of space. This will likely lead to more discoveries in the future.

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