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Happy birthday Hubble (Image: NASA)
Spiral galaxy NGC 1300
(Image: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team STScI/AURA)
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Zolt Levay, leader of the Hubble imaging group at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland
鈥淭his is the prototypical example of a barred spiral galaxy鈥� Amazing details appear in the colour composite: beautifully resolved spiral arms and dust lanes to the bright nucleus. And the disc is transparent enough to see distant background galaxies, which provides a dramatic feeling of depth.鈥�
Mars and Comet Siding Spring
(Image: NASA, ESA, J.-Y. Li (PSI), C.M. Lisse (JHU/APL), and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Curiosity Mars rover, @MarsCuriosity
鈥淲hen I left Earth in 2011, I knew Mars would be my home for good. While the Hubble Space Telescope has taken lots of images of the Red Planet, this one is special because I know I鈥檓 on the surface, working. Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring appeared as just a smudge for me, but to Hubble it was glorious. This picture reminds me that sometimes you must change your point of view to see things as they really are.鈥�
Galaxy cluster Abell 68
(Image: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage/ESA-Hubble Collaboration)
William Borucki, principal investigator of the NASA Kepler planet hunter
鈥淭he image I find most compelling is that of galaxy cluster Abell 68鈥� I get a very eerie feeling when I see all those galaxies and realise that we have not picked up any sign of life from any exoplanet orbiting any of the billions of billions of stars those galaxies contain.鈥�
An impossible task
Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York
鈥淚t鈥檚 like picking your favourite child. I can鈥檛 do it. What is certain, however, is that nobody ever required a caption to appreciate the images. They convey their own majesty and splendour without it.鈥�
Eagle nebula
(Image: NASA, ESA, STScI, and J. Hester and P. Scowen, Arizona State University)
Jeffrey Hoffman, astronaut
鈥淒espite having become almost a clich茅, the Eagle nebula still gives me goosebumps when I realise that we are seeing the actual birth of stars. It鈥檚 biblical in its impact: 鈥楲et there be light!'鈥�
Helix nebula
(Image: NASA, NOAO, ESA, the Hubble Helix Nebula Team, M. Meixner STScI, and T.A. Rector NRAO)
Barbara Mikulski, US senator for Maryland
鈥淚 keep a huge print of the 鈥楨ye of God鈥� Helix nebula hanging in my office鈥� Every time I stand in front of it, I鈥檓 reminded not just of the insight and beauty that Hubble brought home, but also of the people 鈥� the engineers, scientists, technicians, support staff, cafeteria workers and custodians 鈥� who have all done so much to advance our understanding of the cosmos.鈥�
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淗appy Birthday Hubble!鈥�