For 35 years, the Hubble Space Telescope has transformed how we see the universe.
From its first blurry images in 1990 to its most recent deep-space discoveries, Hubble has captured some of the most stunning, iconic, and scientifically important views in human history. In this video, we celebrate Hubble’s 35th anniversary with a visual journey, showcasing one breathtaking image from every year it's been in orbit, from 1990 to 2025.
From its first blurry images in 1990 to its most recent deep-space discoveries, Hubble has captured some of the most stunning, iconic, and scientifically important views in human history. In this video, we celebrate Hubble’s 35th anniversary with a visual journey, showcasing one breathtaking image from every year it's been in orbit, from 1990 to 2025.
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00:00This telescope was more than a machine, it was a promise, to look deeper, further and
00:06with more clarity than ever before.
00:11Its images became iconic, breathtaking glimpses of the universe once hidden in darkness.
00:19But this is not just a story of discovery, this is a tribute to 35 years of wonder.
00:31From 1990 to 2025, I've selected one image for each year.
00:37Some are scientific highlights, others are iconic images while the rest are lesser known
00:43yet still equally as stunning.
00:46Each image you are about to view reminds us why Hubble is such an incredible human achievement.
00:54This is a celebration of light, time and a telescope that changed how we see the cosmos forever.
01:04You're watching V101 Space, my name's Rob and if you enjoy diving into the wonders of
01:09space, don't forget to subscribe for much more to come.
01:17The image that started it all.
01:20This was Hubble's first light, its very first look into the universe from low earth orbit.
01:29Feast in May 1990, it was more than a test shot, it was proof that humanity had finally stepped
01:36beyond the blur of Earth's atmosphere.
01:41On the right, the raw clarity of Hubble's wide field.
01:45On the left, the same region of sky taken from the ground in Chile.
01:50The difference is stark.
01:52For the first time, we weren't looking through the sky, we were looking past it.
01:58But not everything was perfect.
02:02Scientists soon noticed a problem, a flaw in Hubble's primary mirror was subtly blurring
02:07its vision.
02:08The images were better than Earth's, yes, but not what they were meant to be.
02:13It was a quiet flaw that would soon set the stage for one of the most daring repair missions
02:19in space history.
02:22In 1991, Hubble turned its focus to Jupiter, offering an early look at the gas giant with
02:29a clarity not seen since the Voyager probes passed by in the late 1970s.
02:37In 1992, this image helped confirm the presence of something extraordinary at the heart of the
02:43galaxy M87, a massive black hole.
02:50In June 1993, Hubble brought the universe into sharper focus, not just in detail, but in distance.
02:59Astronomers announced a major breakthrough, a precise measurement to galaxy M81, placing it
03:05at 11 million light years away.
03:09Only with accurate distances could scientists begin to better understand how fast the universe
03:14is expanding, and how old it really is.
03:19At the time, estimates for the age of the universe ranged from 10 billion to 20 billion years.
03:26Thanks to Hubble, the window was beginning to narrow, the universe was finally starting
03:31to reveal its timeline.
03:34Now we know that the universe is approximately 13.8 billion years old.
03:42By the end of 1993, Hubble's vision was about to change forever.
03:47Aboard the space shuttle Endeavour, seven astronauts carried out the telescope's first servicing mission,
03:54a bold, high-stakes repair in low Earth orbit.
04:00They installed a new camera, the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, equipped with corrective
04:06optics.
04:07Alongside it, a revolutionary system called CoStar gave Hubble's existing instruments the
04:13clarity they were meant to have.
04:15When the mission ended, the universe snapped into focus.
04:21Hubble's true potential had finally been unleashed.
04:29In July 1994, Hubble witnessed a cosmic catastrophe, a planetary drama unfolding across the face of Jupiter.
04:40This image reveals eight dark scars etched into the gas giant's atmosphere.
04:45The aftermath of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, which had shattered into 21 fragments during a close
04:51pass by of Jupiter two years earlier.
04:55Now those fragments were slamming into the planet at over 200,000 kilometres per hour, each
05:03impact leaving a mark larger than Earth itself.
05:09And for the first time, thanks to Hubble's newly corrected optics, we saw it all in stunning
05:15clarity.
05:16No longer held back by blurred vision, Hubble captured this rare event in exquisite detail.
05:23Not just a glimpse, but a front row seat to our solar system in motion.
05:28It was a moment that reminded us, the universe is not still, it is dynamic, violent and alive.
05:38In 1995, Hubble released a sweeping, full colour mosaic of the Orion Nebula, one of the most
05:45detailed and expansive views it had ever produced.
05:52In 1996, the Hubble Deep Field was unveiled, capturing hundreds of previously unseen galaxies,
06:00in what was, at the time, the deepest view into the universe ever captured.
06:07In early 1997, Hubble's eyes were opened wider than ever before.
06:13During its second servicing mission, astronauts installed a powerful new instrument, the near-infrared
06:20camera and multi-object spectrometer.
06:23This wasn't just an upgrade, it was an evolution.
06:27For the first time, Hubble could peer into the cosmos in infrared, a wavelength invisible
06:33to the human eye, but essential for revealing what lies behind thick clouds of dust and gas.
06:41In 1998, Hubble revealed a chaotic scene of stellar birth in a nearby active galaxy, a turbulent
06:48mix of dust, gas and young stars.
06:53By the end of 1999, Hubble had gone silent.
06:57A series of gyroscope failures had forced the telescope into safe mode, leaving it adrift,
07:04still in orbit, but unable to see.
07:07What followed was no ordinary mission, it was a rescue.
07:11Aboard the space shuttle Discovery, seven astronauts launched into space, a critical effort to bring
07:17Hubble back to life.
07:20Over the course of eight days, they replaced all six of the telescope's gyroscopes, installed
07:25a faster on-board computer and performed essential upgrades to its systems.
07:32When Discovery departed, Hubble was restored, not only repaired, but revitalized.
07:39Once again, it opened its eye to the universe, and once again, it began to see even clearer.
07:46In 2000, light and shadow came together in Hubble's striking view of the Carina Nebula, where columns
07:55of dust hinted at stars in formation.
07:59In 2001, the Horsehead Nebula was imaged in remarkable detail, its distinctive shape standing
08:06out against a glowing backdrop of gas.
08:11In 2002, Hubble received a powerful new eye, the Advanced Camera for Surveys, or ACS.
08:20Installed during the telescope's fourth servicing mission, ACS was designed to do one thing better
08:25than ever before, see deeper with more detail across a wider field of view.
08:32The first images taken with the new camera were nothing short of extraordinary.
08:37The cone nebula rising like a cosmic tower from flowing gas.
08:42The Mice galaxies locked in a gravitational dance, and the Tadpole galaxy with its trailing
08:49tail of stars, each one a testament to the camera's unmatched clarity.
08:56In 2003, one of the largest and most intricate images Hubble had produced, the Helix Nebula appeared
09:04almost like a cosmic eye staring back from deep space.
09:11In 2004, Hubble captured a rare phenomenon, light echoes radiating from a distant stellar
09:18outburst, illuminating space like ripples in a pond.
09:25In 2005, a remarkably detailed image of the Crab Nebula revealed a tangle of glowing filaments
09:33and swirling remnants of a long past supernova.
09:39In 2006, the vibrant star cluster Pease Mice 24 resolved with brilliant clarity, showcasing
09:47dozens of massive young stars.
09:52In 2007, Hubble returned to the Carina Nebula, capturing new layers of structure and star formation
09:59with even greater depth.
10:04In early 2008, Hubble helped map the invisible.
10:08This image of the supercluster Abel 901-902, a colossal gathering of hundreds of galaxies reveals
10:16something extraordinary, the unseen structure that holds the universe together.
10:24The magenta-tinted clumps aren't stars or gas.
10:28They represent dark matter, an invisible substance that makes up most of the universe's mass, yet
10:35cannot be seen directly.
10:38Hubble can't photograph dark matter, but it can trace its presence.
10:43Astronomers used a technique called weak gravitational lensing, analyzing how the light from over 60,000
10:50galaxies behind the cluster were subtly warped by the mass in front of it.
10:56The result is a ghostly map, a cosmic fingerprint, showing that these galaxies don't simply float
11:04in space, they lie embedded within vast hidden webs of dark matter.
11:11It was a haunting reminder that what we see in the universe is only a fraction of what's truly there.
11:20In 2009, a rare quadruple transit of Saturn's moons was captured, as four satellites crossed
11:27in front of the gas giant in a perfectly timed sequence.
11:34Then, Hubble was given one last visit, a final chance to renew its strength and extend its
11:41legacy.
11:43After initial cancellation, the mission was eventually reinstated.
11:47Aboard the space shuttle Atlantis, astronauts embarked on a daring and complex journey to
11:53upgrade and preserve one of humanity's greatest scientific instruments.
11:59For five spacewalks, they installed new instruments, repaired failing components, and gave Hubble
12:06the tools it needed to continue exploring deeper, clearer and longer.
12:12It was Hubble's fifth and final servicing mission, a farewell not of endings, but of endurance.
12:20And because of it, Hubble will go on capturing the universe's wonders for years to come.
12:28In 2010, this delicate shell was captured, appearing to float serenely in the depths of space.
12:36But this apparent calm hides an inner turmoil.
12:39The gaseous envelope formed as the expanding blast wave and ejected material from a supernova
12:45tore through the nearby interstellar medium.
12:49The bubble is the invisible remnant of a powerful stellar explosion in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
12:55A small galaxy about 160,000 light years from Earth.
13:03In 2011, a portrait of the flocculent spiral galaxy NGC 2841 showed a less structured, but
13:12equally beautiful swirl of stars and dust.
13:18In May 2012, Hubble helped us look not into the past, but into the future.
13:24Astronomers announced that our home, the Milky Way, is on a collision course.
13:29Its destination?
13:30The Andromeda Galaxy.
13:33Though it now lies 2.5 million light years away, Andromeda is falling towards us, drawn
13:39by the slow, inescapable pull of gravity.
13:43In roughly 4 billion years, the two galaxies will meet in a titanic head-on collision.
13:49This isn't the stuff of science fiction, it's cosmic inevitability.
13:54Stars will scatter, spiral arms will twist and merge, and over time, the two great galaxies
14:00will become one.
14:03Thanks to Hubble's precision, we no longer wonder if this will happen, we know when.
14:09In 2013, an infrared view of the Horsehead Nebula brought forward cooler, hidden features
14:17that have remained unseen in visible light.
14:22In 2014, Hubble peered into Abel 2744 and delivered its deepest image of a galaxy cluster, revealing
14:31some of the youngest and faintest galaxies ever detected.
14:35In 2015, the iconic pillars of creation were revisited with improved instruments, revealing
14:44new textures and features in this star-forming region.
14:50In March 2016, Hubble broke a barrier and looked farther into the past than ever before.
14:58Hubble has announced the discovery of GN-Z11, the most distant galaxy ever observed at the
15:05time.
15:07A brilliant infant galaxy, seen as it was 13.4 billion years ago, just 400 million years after
15:16the Big Bang.
15:18To find it, Hubble had to push the limits of its sensitivity and precision, capturing ancient
15:24light stretched thin by the expansion of the universe.
15:28What we see isn't just a galaxy, it's a glimpse into the universe's first breath.
15:34A fragile, glowing ember from the dawn of time.
15:39With this single image, Hubble didn't just set a record, it connected us to the very beginning.
15:48In 2017, a dramatic scene of galactic collision was captured mid-process, illustrating how galaxies
15:56can merge and reshape one another over time.
16:00In 2018, this trio of images was unveiled, telling a quiet but powerful story, the transformation
16:08of Hubble's vision over 25 years.
16:12On the left, a blurry view of the spiral galaxy, Messier 100, taken in 1993 with Hubble's original
16:20camera, a reminder of the flaw in its mirror that once blurred the stars.
16:26In the centre, the same galaxy seen in 1994, after astronomers installed corrective optics
16:33and a new camera during the first servicing mission, suddenly the universe came into focus.
16:41On the right, the most recent image taken in 2018 with the Wide Field Camera 3, installed
16:49during Hubble's final servicing mission.
16:52Three generations of images, one galaxy, a quarter century of progress and proof that even
16:58in space, vision can evolve.
17:03In 2019, by capturing a spiral galaxy almost edge-on, Hubble revealed its layered, three-dimensional
17:11structure in vivid relief.
17:16In 2020, a delicate spiral pattern was observed in a distant galaxy, its arms appearing soft and
17:23feathered as they stretched outward from the core.
17:28In 2021, A.G. Carini was shown in spectacular detail, the luminous blue variable star surrounded
17:36by a glowing shell of gas shaped by powerful stellar winds.
17:43In 2022, Hubble reached across nearly all of time and found a single star.
17:50This ancient point of light, detected by Hubble, existed within the first billion years after
17:56the Big Bang.
17:57Its light has travelled 12.9 billion years to reach Earth.
18:02The previous record holder was nearly 4 billion years closer.
18:06This new discovery wasn't a deeper look, it was a leap across eons.
18:12No telescope has ever seen an individual star at such a distance.
18:18Yet Hubble, still pushing boundaries after more than three decades in space, did just that.
18:25A solitary beacon from the dawn of the universe, and a reminder that even the faintest light
18:31can survive the longest journey.
18:35In 2023, a spiral galaxy was highlighted amid a field of thousands, standing out as a graceful
18:43centrepiece within a vast cosmic crowd.
18:48In 2024, Hubble provided a nearly edge-on view of lenticular galaxy NGC 4753, revealing its complex
18:59shape and subtle spiral structures.
19:04More than three decades after its launch, in 2025, the Hubble Space Telescope is still
19:10at work, still capturing breathtaking images from the depths of space.
19:16Its mirrors have revealed new-born stars, ancient galaxies and the invisible scaffolding
19:22of the cosmos.
19:24It has reshaped our understanding of time, light and our place in the universe.
19:30And remarkably, it's not done yet.
19:33With careful management, Hubble is expected to continue observing until the mid-2030s.
19:40It began as an ambitious experiment, a telescope in space.