Watch: Hubble Space Telescope snapped on its 36th birthday
What's the story
To celebrate the Hubble Space Telescope's 36th birthday, Colorado-based spatial intelligence firm Vantor has shared a stunning close-up image of the observatory. The photo was captured by one of Vantor's WorldView Legion Earth-observing satellites on April 23. "Celebrating 36 years of discovery with the Hubble Space Telescope," Vantor wrote in an X post sharing the image. "For over three decades, Hubble has expanded our understanding of the universe."
Satellite view
Image shows solar arrays, aperture door
The image, taken from just 56km away, shows "an incredible perspective of one of humanity's most iconic scientific instruments." The picture clearly shows Hubble's cylindrical body, thermal shielding, solar arrays and the open aperture door at the front of the telescope. Vantor operates six WorldView Legion satellites that orbit at an altitude of about 518km above Earth, and can resolve features as small as 11.8-inch on their home planet.
Legacy
Hubble's contribution to science
Launched aboard the space shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990, Hubble has been a key player in expanding our understanding of the universe. Despite showing signs of age, the telescope continues to make important scientific observations and discoveries. NASA is hopeful that it will continue to operate until 2035. Over its lifetime, Hubble has made more than 1.7 million observations and contributed to around 23,000 research papers written by nearly 29,000 astronomers worldwide.