Wired News reported Fifteen years ago Monday, at 12:38 p.m. Pacific Time, astronaut Steven Hawley directed the space shuttle's robotic arm to release the Hubble Space Telescope 381 miles above the Earth, launching an era of unprecedented scientific discoveries.
Since that day in 1990, the bus-sized telescope has taken more than 700,000 photos of planets, stars and other celestial bodies. The images have helped astronomers see deeper into space than ever before -- a feat that has allowed them to prove the existence of super-massive black holes and even calculate the age of the universe, among other things.
In honor of the 15th anniversary of Hubble's delivery into space, NASA and the European Space Agency have released new photos of two of the telescope's most popular targets: the M51 Whirlpool Galaxy and the Eagle Nebula. The photos are among the largest and sharpest Hubble has ever taken and could be enlarged to the size of a billboard without losing clarity, according to the ESA.
Electronic image files and additional 15th anniversary information are available at: http://hubblesite.org/news/2005/12
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