Hubbles Universe

Hubble Space Telescope images capture the beauty and the violence of star birth in the Orion Nebula.

Back in 1609, in Venice, Galileo Galilei gave one of the very first demonstrations of his telescope. A few months after that, he discovered Jupiter's moons, Io, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. Four centuries later, another telescope is making history here, as scientists gather to discuss the latest results from Hubble.

Astronomers have studied a giant filament of dark matter in 3D for the first time. Extending 60 million light-years from one of the most massive galaxy clusters known, the filament is part of the large scale structure of the universe.

Here are some of the greatest pictures in each of the 22 years the Hubble Space Telescope has been in operation.

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is working on three of the most ambitious projects in its history just now. These multicycle treasury programs are using Hubble's unique ability to observe across the spectrum from ultraviolet, through visible, to infrared light, to build up a library of data which will serve astronomers for many years.

Decades before the Hubble Space Telescope, Dr. Edwin Powell Hubble revolutionised the field of astronomy. Take a look at the life and work of this brilliant American astronomer for whom the Hubble Space Telescope is named.