Hubble's 31st Anniversary: Giant Star on the Edge of Destruction

In celebration of the 31st anniversary of the launching of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers aimed the renowned observatory at a brilliant “celebrity star,” one of the brightest stars seen in our galaxy, surrounded by a glowing halo of gas and dust.

Hubble's senior project scientist, Dr. Jennifer Wiseman, takes us on a tour of this stunning new image, describes the telescope's current health, and summarizes some of Hubble's contributions to astronomy from the past year.

For more information, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble.

Additional Visualizations:
Flyby of AG Carinae
Video credit: Leah Hustak, Frank Summers, Alyssa Pagan, Joseph DePasquale, Greg Bacon (STSci)

Artist’s Impression of the Black Hole Concentration in NGC 6397
Video credit: ESA/Hubble, N. Bartmann

Animation of of Exoplanet GJ 1132 b
Video credit: Robert Hurt

Music Credits:
"Himalayan Temple" by Jan Pham Huu Tri [SACEM] via Koka Media [SACEM], Universal Publishing Production Music France [SACEM], and Universal Production Music.