30th Anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope
Celebrating 30 years of research and wonder with a virtual image unveiling on April 24
Published04/16/2020
Check out the Hubble’s 30th anniversary image here: https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2020/news-2020-16!
For thirty years, the Hubble Space Telescope has provided us with discovery and awe-inspiring images from the cosmos. On April 24, NASA will celebrate the anniversary of Hubble’s launch aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery by releasing a stunning new image yet to be seen by the public. Mark your calendars for this special event and share your experience! #Hubble30
When the Bell Museum is once again open to the public, we will proudly display a banner of the image for all to see. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, home to Hubble’s science operations center, has selected our museum as one of a limited number of locations across the nation to display this image. After some time at the Bell, the image will travel to some of our statewide star party partners throughout Minnesota.
- JJ Casby Observatory and Belwin Conservancy in Afton
- MSUM Planetarium in Fargo/Moorhead
- Hormel Nature Center and Sola Fide Observatory in Austin
- UMD Marshall Alworth Planetarium in Duluth
To explore downloadable resources and a gallery of Hubble’s most iconic images, visit
https://hubblesite.org/hubble-30th-anniversary.
Looking for other ways to explore the Hubble Space Telescope? Check out the opportunities below to see, do, and listen!
See!
One of the most iconic images from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is the “Hubble Deep Field” made in 1995. The HST stared at a piece of the sky about the size of a tennis ball as seen from 100 meters away for more than 100 hours. (Most projects last just a couple of hours!) In this small area of the sky, the HST imaged over 3,000 galaxies!
This process was repeated in 1998 with the Hubble Deep Field South which found over 5,000 galaxies and in 2004 with the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field (HUDF) which found over 10,000 galaxies! The galaxies discovered in the HUDF include ones that formed between over 13 billion years ago, only 400 and 800 million years after the Big Bang. Astronomers are using Hubble’s observations to study star and galaxy formation over the history of the entire universe!
Want to see the images for yourself? Check out:
- Hubble Deep Field, 1995: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/opo9601c1/
- Hubble Deep Field South, 1998: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/opo9841e/
- Hubble Ultra-Deep Field, 2004: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic0406a/