Real photos from the Hubble Telescope

In 1981, outer space got much closer – or at least easier to see – when the Hubble Telescope was launched and the Space Telescope Science Institute was founded. Over the past four decades, the institute has shared amazing photographs of outer space captured by the telescope, and in doing so, explained a little more about the universe around us. The Hubble Telescope has helped us understand the age and expansion of the universe, black holes and supernovas, as well as provide us with “local” knowledge of the solar system and the Milky Way.

These photographs, which seem almost too strange to be true, are among the most beautiful in the Hubble Telescope. For more photographs from Earth and beyond, sign up for our weekly photo newsletter.