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The Hubble telescope - which is being phased out by Nasa - captured the deepest view of the cosmos, detecting the youngest and most distant galaxies ever seen.

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It helped scientists catch a glimpse of eerie columns of cool, interstellar hydrogen gas and dust in which new stars are being born.

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The powerful telescope detected what astronomers say may be the oldest planet in our galaxy - up to 13 billion years old.

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This picture shows the "bruise" given to Jupiter by the impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.

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Hubble also sent back what scientists described as the best image of Mars.

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A huge, billowing pair of gas and dust clouds were captured in this image of the doomed, supermassive star Eta Carinae.

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Hubble revealed some secrets of the dynamics of a dying star - the Cat's Eye Nebula, NGC 6543.