“The planetary nebula NGC 6302, more popularly called the Butterfly Nebula: a star that was once about five times the mass of the Sun has blown off its outer layers.”
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“Refurbishment missions are always a little bit iffy because things can go wrong; astronauts can muck it up, maybe we didn’t think about this or that when we redesigned the equipment, reinstalled it and refurbished it. But these images definitely show that Hubble is in good shape for what will be – unfortunately – its last few years. It’s going to go out with a real bang” – Dr Paul Murdin, from the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Astronomy

After undergoing a death-defying repair mission, Hubble has recently released new images showcasing the telescope’s upgrades. Whilst NASA plans on retiring Hubble for a larger and more capable telescope called the James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble should work until approximately the year 2014. Forgive the brevity of this article, but these images speak louder than words:

“A pillar of gas and dust known as the Carina Nebula: stars are forming in this cloud. Hubble’s two views, in the visible (top) and the infrared (bottom) show astronomers very different details.”

“A panoramic view of some 100,000 stars inside the globular cluster Omega Centauri. The range of colours reveals stars in different stages of their lives.”