Hubble Space Telescope finds bucket of cosmic Easter eggs — 500 blue and red stars

A hazy scene with orange and burgundy gaseous clouds. A burst of bright blue stars is concentrated toward the right. A single red star is seen in the center-top.

In December 2023, the Hubble Space Telescope completed its largest program since launching in 1990. With this program, the telescope made observations of 500 individual stars over three years — and scientists are now ready to dive into this cosmic Easter egg of data.

The comprehensive Hubble Telescope survey is called the Ultraviolet Legacy Library of Young Stars as Essential Standards, or ULLYSES; Hubble was deemed by ULLYSES operators as the sole active telescope capable of accomplishing such a pioneering endeavor.