Nebula sparkles in new Hubble snapshot | Space photo of the day for April 23, 2026

This image of the Trifid Nebula was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope 29 years after the telescope first imaged the nebula in 1997. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, STScI; Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI))

A new image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope shows a spectacular nebula in all its glory. (And yes, it does kind of look like a cosmic sea slug.)

Nearly 30 years ago, Hubble looked at the Trifid Nebula. To celebrate the upcoming 36th anniversary of the telescope's launch on April 24, it looked at the nebula once again. And the image it captured is breathtaking.