1 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:19,000 Episode 54: 22 years in pictures 2 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:23,000 On 24 April 1990, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope 3 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:26,000 was launched into space. 4 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:30,000 In the 22 years since, it has sent back more than a million observations. 5 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,000 Here are a few of our favourites: one from every year. 6 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:35,000 Among the first images to be sent back from Hubble after its launch in April 1990, 7 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:37,000 this image of Saturn is good by the standards of ground-based telescopes, but slightly blurry. 8 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,000 This is because of the well-publicised problem with Hubble’s mirror. 9 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,005 Although not perfectly sharp, this early image of the Orion Nebula 10 00:00:42,005 --> 00:00:45,005 nevertheless shows the rich colours and structures 11 00:00:45,005 --> 00:00:48,000 of this bright star-forming region. 12 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,000 Throughout the region of the Orion Nebula are numerous streamers of gas 13 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,000 that come from newborn stars, known to astronomers as Herbig-Haro Objects. 14 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:59,000 In late 1993, Hubble’s teething problems were resolved in the first servicing mission. 15 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:02,000 Before-and-after images of the core of spiral galaxy Messier 100 16 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:05,000 show how this dramatically improved the telescope’s image quality. 17 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,000 Soon after, comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with Jupiter 18 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:17,000 A similar impact on Earth 65 million years ago may have killed off the dinosaurs. 19 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,000 Hubble’s image of the ‘pillars of creation’ in the Eagle Nebula is one of its most famous. 20 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,000 These huge, dusty structures enshroud pockets of ongoing star formation. 21 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:28,000 This image from 1996 shows a planetary nebula, 22 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:31,000 which represents the other end of a star’s life from the Eagle Nebula: stellar death. 23 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,000 NASA’s Mars Pathfinder probe was en route to Mars in 1997 24 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:38,000 while Hubble took this image. 25 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,000 Another planetary nebula, the Ring Nebula is one of the most famous. 26 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:54,000 The Keyhole Nebula, part of the larger Carina Nebula 27 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:58,000 is another bright star-forming region 28 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,000 rich in glowing gas. 29 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:05,000 Not all nebulae glow brightly. NGC 1999 features a dark patch 30 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,000 silhouetted against a brighter background of reflected starlight. 31 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:13,000 This galaxy shows the dramatic deformations 32 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,000 that can occur after collisions between galaxies. 33 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:20,000 Further upgrades in 2002, including a new main camera 34 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,000 increased resolution and picture quality again. 35 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,000 This ultra-sharp image demonstrates the new instrument’s capabilities. 36 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,000 This extremely long exposure was designed 37 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,000 to observe the most distant and faintest galaxies in the Universe. 38 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:39,000 The dramatic collision of two spiral galaxies 39 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:43,000 is visible in this image of the Antennae Galaxies. 40 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:50,000 This image of the Orion Nebula 41 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:54,000 is one of the largest and most detailed ever made. 42 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:01,000 Globular clusters, roughly spherical collections of stars, 43 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:04,000 contain some of the oldest stars in our Milky Way. 44 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,000 Hubble can produce sharp images of stars even in their crowded centres. 45 00:03:09,005 --> 00:03:13,000 This image was taken just before an electronic failure in January 2007 46 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:16,000 which damaged Hubble's main camera. 47 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,000 Although even its remaining instruments meant it could compete 48 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:22,000 with the best telescopes on the ground. 49 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:26,000 In 2009, a final servicing mission repaired the damage and installed a new camera 50 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:29,000 Hubble was back in business. 51 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:35,000 Using its new instrumentation, 52 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:39,000 Hubble peered into the heart of Centaurus A, 53 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:42,000 a dramatically dusty galaxy. 54 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,000 Just published in April 2012, 55 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,000 this image of the Tarantula Nebula combines Hubble observations from 2011, 56 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:55,000 with colour data from the European Southern Observatory. 57 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:58,000 It is one of the most detailed ever made of a star-forming region 58 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,000 weighing in at an astonishing 330 megapixels. 59 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,000 Most of Hubble’s data are only made public a year after they are made 60 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,000 So what’s Hubble’s best picture from 2012? You’ll just have to wait to find out... 61 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:14,000 Subtitles by ESA/Hubble