The Hubble Space Telescope was named for Edwin Hubble, an American astronomer who made significant contributions to the field of astronomy. The Hubble was first put into orbit in April of 1990 after two decades of difficulties and delays. It is unique in many ways including the fact that it is the only telescope ever designed to be completely serviced while in space by astronauts who travel to the telescope to perform needed repairs as they did in May when the Hubble was fitted with new filters and a new camera.
One of the amazing images captured by the new camera on the Hubble Space Telescope is a magnificent view of a Butterfly Nebula which has a width of over 2 light years across the span of the “wings” of the nebula. Those “wings” contain massively heated gas that reaches temperatures in excess of 36,000 degrees Fahrenheit. In the center of the Butterfly Nebula is a dying star.
The Hubble camera also picked up other amazing images including a group of galaxies that exists in the constellation Pegasus known was the Stephan's Quintet that is over 290 million light years from Earth and a star nursery over 7,500 light years away. (View a few of the amazing shots here.)
The Hubble will remain operational for at least another five years, capturing spectacular photographs of far off wonders.