Galaxies

Galaxy images are the backbone of Hubble's legacy. This collection includes spirals with active star-forming arms, massive elliptical systems, dwarf galaxies that preserve clues from the early universe, and dramatic mergers where gravity reshapes entire stellar cities. Hubble's high-resolution imaging allows astronomers to separate stellar populations, dust lanes, and ionized gas regions at scales that are impossible from most ground-based telescopes. These observations are used to study dark matter, distance calibration, black hole growth, and the long-term evolution of structure in the universe. When you browse this category, you are effectively stepping through multiple chapters of cosmic history, from nearby calibration targets to distant systems whose light has traveled for billions of years.