Edwin Powell Hubble
This stamp pane pays tribute to the work and contributions of Edwin Powell Hubble and the Hubble Space Telescope, which was named in his honor. Hubble was an eminent American astronomer whose observations at the Mt. Wilson Observatory of the Carnigie Institution of Washington, revolutionized humanity's concept of the universe.
Born Nov. 20, 1889, in Marshfield, Mo., Hubble determined that galaxies exist outside of and are receding from our own galaxy, the Milky Way. His observations demonstrated that the universe is expanding. Hubble died Sept. 28, 1953, in San Marino, Calif.
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST), launched in April 1990, orbits the Earth and sends images of astronomical objects back to scientists. The HST can see farther into the universe than Earth-based observation tools and provides astronomers with stunningly clear images.
The five stamp images - Eagle Nebula, Ring Nebula, Lagoon Nebula, Egg Nebula and Galaxy NGC 1316 - were captured by the HST. The images are visual representations of data taken by the HST that have been processed, and in some cases colorized, for scientific purposes.
A 1949 black-and-white photograph of Hubble, posing with the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope at Palomar Observatory, serves as the selvage image.

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