The Hubble Space Telescope is one of the most incredible scientific instruments ever constructed. Launched 26 years ago this week, Hubble explores the vastness of the universe and observes the most distant stars and galaxies.

Hubble orbits Earth at an altitude of approximately 340 miles, above most of our image-distorting atmosphere. Traveling at about 17,000 miles per hour, Hubble has made more than 1.2 million observations.

Check out some of our favorite images taken by the orbiting telescope:

A young star system and the surrounding dust.
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt

Countless galaxies of varying sizes, shapes and ages.
Image credit: NASA, ESA and the HST Frontier Fields team (STScI), Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt

This spiral galaxy is part of a class of galaxies known as flocculent spirals.
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA and S. Smartt (Queen’s University Belfast); Acknowledgement: Robert Gendler

A small portion of the Monkey Head Nebula which is 6,400 light-years away.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

For more about Hubble, click here.

To learn about the next great space observatory, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), check out NASA.gov.