On May 20th in Science History, a significant event took place in 1990. On this day, the Hubble Space Telescope sent its first photographs from space, marking a major milestone in the field of astronomy.

The Hubble Space Telescope, named after the renowned astronomer Edwin Hubble, was launched into orbit by the Space Shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990. After a few weeks of setup and calibration, the telescope captured its first images on May 20th.

The first photograph taken by Hubble was of a star cluster named NGC 3532, located approximately 1,300 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Carina. This image, although slightly blurry due to a flaw in the telescope's primary mirror, hinted at the incredible potential of the telescope.

Despite the initial setback caused by the mirror defect, the Hubble Space Telescope went on to revolutionize our understanding of the universe. Subsequent servicing missions corrected the mirror issue, and over the years, Hubble has captured breathtaking images of planets, stars, galaxies, and nebulae, many of which have become iconic representations of the cosmos.

Some of Hubble's most significant contributions include providing evidence for the existence of supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies, observing the birth and death of stars, detecting exoplanets, and helping astronomers measure the age and expansion rate of the universe more accurately.

The success of the Hubble Space Telescope on May 20, 1990, paved the way for a new era of space-based astronomy and has inspired countless people around the world to explore the wonders of the universe.