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NASA is celebrating the Hubble Space Telescope’s
32nd birthday with a stunning look at five

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galaxies, a close-knit collection called the
Hickson Compact Group 40.

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This amazing assembly includes a giant elliptical
galaxy, glowing with blended light from billions

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of stars.

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Several spiral galaxies show prominent dusty
lanes that outline their winding spiral arms,

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regions where star formation is active.

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We see one galaxy oriented edge-on, showing
off its prominent dust along its flattened

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starry disk.

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This eclectic group of galaxies is held together
in a gravitational dance.

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The group is so crowded that it could fit
within a space less than twice the span of

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our own Milky Way galaxy’s disk.

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A mysterious and invisible form of matter,
called dark matter, may explain this tightly

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bound group.

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When galaxies with a lot of dark matter come
close together, that dark matter can form

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a big cloud around the entire group.

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As the galaxies plow through this cloud of
dark matter, its gravitational effects act

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like a frictional force that slows their motion,
causing the galaxies to lose energy and fall

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together.

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This snapshot catches the galaxies at a very
special moment in their lifetimes.

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In about 1 billion years they will eventually
collide and merge to form one giant elliptical

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galaxy.

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Hubble’s incredible sensitivity also picks
up a diverse collection of more distant galaxies

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glowing in the background.

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Because Hubble orbits above Earth’s atmosphere,
it can give us these clear views of the many

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wonders in our universe.

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For 32 years, the Hubble Space Telescope has
changed the way we think of space and our

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place in the cosmos.

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Hubble has refined our understanding of the
age of the universe and its rate of expansion.

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Its deep field images have made it possible
for us to see across billions of light-years,

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revealing ancient, adolescent galaxies that
we can compare with our own Milky Way.

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Hubble remains in good health and is expected
to continue its exploration of the universe

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for years to come.

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Five astronaut servicing missions, along with
an expert technical team on the ground, have

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kept the telescope at the peak of its scientific
capabilities.

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You can find out more about the Hubble Space
Telescope at our website: nasa.gov/hubble

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and on social media @NASAHubble.