Yet another view of one of the "Pillars of Creation" in the Eagle Nebula.

A distant quasar and its five stars, with the light-bending effect occasionally seen in images of extremely distant objects.

This is the center of our galaxy, a composite photo taken by Hubble in near-infrared light, the Spitzer Space Telescope in infrared light and the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Another composite shot from the three telescopes, this one of the Antennae galaxies. (Chandra X-ray Observatory Center)

The "Pillars of Creation" in the Eagle Nebula.

The Helix Nebula, NGC 7293, only 650 light years away.

The famous Horsehead Nebula, which resides in the constellation Orion.

This is a plume of gas and dust in the Carina Nebula, about 7,500 light years away.

Hubble is perhaps at its best when trained upon the closest objects. This spectacular shot shows the Great Red Spot on Jupiter, just two planets away.

A near-infrared shot of Jupiter showing the shadows of three of its moons -- Io, Ganymede, and Callisto -- on the surface.

Giant storms occasionally erupt through the swirling gases of Jupiter; here, an infrared image of storm activity is superimposed on a Hubble image taken at roughly the same time.

A close-up view of two "twisters" in the Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8), 5,000 light years away.

NASA's "Astronomy Picture of the Day" describes it best: "For reasons unknown, star V838 Mon's outer surface suddenly greatly expanded with the result that it became the brightest star in the entire Milky Way Galaxy in January 2002. Then, just as suddenly, it faded. A stellar flash like this has never been seen before ..."

Here's a planet that needs no introduction.

Mars in 1997, when it was only about 60 million miles from Earth, a relatively close pass.

Mars in 2001, when it was less than 45 million miles away.

The "Pillar and Jets" section of the Carina Nebula.

Back to Jupiter. This photo shows additional red spots, or swirling storms in the clouds of gas.

A close-up view of the center of the Centaurus A galaxy.

The nebula in Orion, about 1,500 light years away.

Pandora’s Cluster, a cluster of galaxies that appear to have been created by a collision of four separate clusters.

A longer view of the "Pillar and Jets" section of the Carina Nebula.

The often-observed Ring Nebula, about 2,000 light years away and one light year across.

Saturn, with its rings at maximum tilt of 27 degrees, shot in ultraviolet light.

An unusual perspective on Saturn from 2009.

Saturn's amazing rings.

The Sombrero Galaxy, one of the largest galaxies in the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies, as seen in infrared light.

Another view of the Sombrero, 50,000 light years across and 28 million light years from Earth.

The M81 galaxy, a bright spiral about 12 million light years from Earth.

The spiral galaxy M100, in a 1993 image that proved, by its clarity, the success of the Space Shuttle astronauts in repairing Hubble.

Spiral galaxy M74.

This image is from a portion of the Large Magellanic Cloud, about 175,000 light years from Earth.

The dwarf galaxy NGC 4214, a nursery for young stars, about 10 million light years away.

Planetary nebula NGC 2440 with a white dwarf at its center.

A “light echo” illuminates dust around supergiant star V838 Monocerotis.

Hubble captured the burning debris from an exploding star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the light from which first reached Earth in 1987.

A supernova "ribbon," the remnant of a giant explosion from roughly 1,000 years ago.

The Omega Nebula, 5,500 light years away.

A daramatic view of Uranus, with storms raging on the surface, rings clearly visible and 10 moons orbiting the planet.

Uranus and its moon Ariel, casting a shadow on the planet.

Venus in ultraviolet light, from 1995.

Hubble found a field of white dwarf stars in our own galaxy that helped astronomers more accurately estimate the age of the universe.

The Small Magellanic Cloud, about 210,000 light years from Earth.