More Than Any Other Invention, the Hubble Telescope Has Changed Our View of the Universe

To celebrate the Hubble Space Telescope's 26th anniversary in space, NASA released a series of images, videos, and simulations of an object known as the Bubble Nebula. In the main image, a giant star is blowing a cosmic hurricane into space, forming a brilliant halo as it smacks into the chill molecular cloud surrounding its parent star. Like all Hubble images, the immediate aesthetic appeal of this snapshot is only enhanced when we take a moment to consider its scale. The Bubble Nebula is 7 lig...