25 years ago today, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit on the shuttle mission Discovery (STS-31).
The image below has been released to celebrate Hubble’s 25th year in orbit and features "a giant cluster of about 3,000 stars called Westerlund 2. The cluster resides inside a vibrant stellar breeding ground known as Gum 29, located 20,000 light-years away in the constellation Carina. The comparatively young, 2-million-year-old star cluster contains some of our galaxy's hottest, brightest, and most massive stars. The largest stars are unleashing a torrent of ultraviolet light and hurricane-force winds that etch away the enveloping hydrogen gas cloud. This creates a fantasy celestial landscape of pillars, ridges, and valleys."
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hubble25th.org/
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For more beautiful images, take a look at the top 100 photos taken by Hubble during the past 25 years (and don't forget to go fullscreen!)
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