<p style="font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Images of the “Pillars of Creation” are among the most recognizable of the thousands the Hubble Space Telescope has created. The butte-like features were captured in the Eagle Nebula, also known as M16.</p>

Pillars of Creation

Images of the “Pillars of Creation” are among the most recognizable of the thousands the Hubble Space Telescope has created. The butte-like features were captured in the Eagle Nebula, also known as M16.

Photograph by NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA). Colorized Composite/Mosaic

Hubble's Greatest Hits

Pictures from the space telescope have dazzled us for 25 years. Now, Hubble’s lead imaging scientist picks his favorite celestial views.

The Hubble Space Telescope is famous for producing ethereal, iconic images of the cosmos.

But Hubble's images don't come to us ready-made. That's Zoltan Levay's responsibility. As the telescope's imaging team leader at the Space Telescope Science Institute, he has been responsible for bringing us iconic views like the Pillars of Creation since 1993.

You can see Levay's top ten Hubble images in National Geographic magazine, but the pictures don't stop there. Here are 50 of the most amazing Hubble images of all time, selected by National Geographic photo editors.

We invite you to tell us which Hubble views are your favorites, and why, in the comments section. (Hubble captures the universe's oldest galaxies.)

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