NASA marks America's 250th birthday with ‘cosmic fireworks' gallery
By Dean Murray
NASA commemorated America's 250th birthday with a "fireworks display" - featuring the colors of the cosmos.
The space agency has curated 13 images, ranging from 1990 to 2025, containing data taken by the Hubble Space Telescope on the Fourth of July.
They range from a crisp view of Saturn, when the planet was 839 million miles from Earth, to a panoramic view of the Andromeda galaxy that took over ten years to make and required over 600 Hubble overlapping snapshots.
NASA explains: "As one of the most iconic and historic missions of the United States' space program, Hubble's story is woven into the fabric of American life.
"Hubble images populate movies and television shows, the pages of science textbooks and classroom posters, and even items of daily life like coffee mugs and socks."
The pictures represent a small portion of Hubble's more than 1.7 million observations. From these observations, astronomers have published more than 23,000 peer-reviewed scientific papers on Hubble discoveries, making Hubble one of the most prolific astronomical instruments in history.
Now in its 37th year in orbit, Hubble has far exceeded its 15-year expected lifespan and continues to spur our imaginations with beautiful images and groundbreaking science, further inspiring our desire to explore and learn more.
"Enjoy this collection of images captured on July 4th over Hubble's 36-year history," NASA adds.
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This story was originally published July 6, 2026 at 10:49 AM.