NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope completes its 200,000th orbit around Earth on Sept. 19. The milestone adds to a long-running record for the observatory, which has been operating for 36 years. NASA says the telescope has traveled more than 5 billion miles around Earth and has produced more than 1.7 million total observations over its lifetime.
On the same day, Hubble conducts an observation connected to a research effort involving a gravitationally lensed supernova. Lensing occurs when a massive object bends light from a more distant source, allowing astronomers to study an otherwise hard-to-observe event. NASA frames the activity as part of Hubble’s continued role in collecting observations that improve understanding of the universe. Phys.org reports the same milestone and telescope activity without adding separate details or interpretation.
