Hubble's Quarter Century
Our In-Depth Report commemorates the Hubble Space Telescope's unprecedented 25 years in orbit
![Modest but Momentous: Hubble’s Brilliant, Unsung Images [Slide Show]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/427B1288-F96A-45F9-AC54E999F9A2D97B_agenda.jpg?w=380&h=213&fit=crop)
Modest but Momentous: Hubble’s Brilliant, Unsung Images [Slide Show]
NASA’s iconic space telescope has delivered gorgeous astronomical pictures for a quarter century, but some of its keystone discoveries come from far more humble images. Here are Scientific American ’s top 10...
Scientific American Editor's Career Soared with Hubble
Mariette DiChristina, Scientific American's Editor in Chief, has a special place in her heart for the Hubble Space Telescope
NASA’s Next Space Telescope Promises the Stars—and Planets, Too
The much-hyped James Webb Space Telescope promises to revolutionize exoplanet science, but only if astronomers can agree on how to use it.
10 Telescopes That Changed Our View of the Universe [Slide Show]
Historic telescopes through the ages, from Galileo to the 21st century
Hubble's Repairman Reflects on the Telescope's Legacy
Twenty-five years ago, on April 24, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope soared into orbit. Since then, its great discoveries have been legion, and the story of how it became the most successful and productive astronomical observatory in human history is destined to become legendary...
Hubble's archive shows hidden exoplanet discovered 10 years later
Two teams of astronomers made headlines in November after announcing they had photographed planets orbiting regular stars other than our own sun. (Such bodies are known as extrasolar planets, or exoplanets.) One of those planets, Fomalhaut b, the companion to a star called Fomalhaut some 25 light-years away, was spotted by the Hubble Space Telescope; a star known as HR 8799, nearly 130 light-years distant, was found by ground-based observations to harbor a system of at least three planets...
Space Aged: 10 Spacecraft from Decades Past That Are Still Ticking [Slide Show]
Whether peering into deep space or checking on human activity, spacecraft and satellites from days gone by are still on the job
Dome Big Dome: Giant Observatories Augur New Era of Cosmology
When a new generation of giant ground-based telescopes comes online in the next decade, human eyes will see what no one has seen before
The Expanding Universe: From Slowdown to Speed Up
Distant supernovae are revealing the crucial time when the expansion of the universe changed from decelerating to accelerating
Discovering a Dark Universe: A Q&A with Saul Perlmutter
Dark energy is pushing the universe apart at an ever faster rate. Astrophysicist Saul Perlmutter recounts the experimental approaches he took to make that discovery
Agony and Ecstasy: Hubble's Top Moments and Near-Death Episodes
Scientists and astronauts recall the telescope’s finest hours as well as threats to its 25-year existence
Top 10 Images Taken by the Hubble Space Telescope
As the famous telescope turns 25, scientists who have worked on the project chose their favorite pictures
Astronomers Seek Super-Size Hubble Successor to Search for Alien Life
Controversy swirls around a bold proposal for a bigger, better—and expensive—replacement for NASA’s premier space telescope
