**Hubble's Blurry Start: From Cosmic Disappointment to Discovery**
Published: January 14, 2026
Duration: 1:30
# This is your Astronomy Tonight podcast.
**January 14th: A Celestial Milestone in Solar Observation**
On January 14th, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope captured its very first images, and let me tell you—they were a bit of a cosmic disappointment! But here's where it gets interesting: the fuzzy, blurry pictures actually revealed something crucial about the universe and led to one of the greatest triumphs in space exploration history.
You see, Hubble launched on April 24th, 1990, but when engineers and astronomers first peered at those January 14th test images from orbit, they discovered a spherical ab...
**January 14th: A Celestial Milestone in Solar Observation**
On January 14th, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope captured its very first images, and let me tell you—they were a bit of a cosmic disappointment! But here's where it gets interesting: the fuzzy, blurry pictures actually revealed something crucial about the universe and led to one of the greatest triumphs in space exploration history.
You see, Hubble launched on April 24th, 1990, but when engineers and astronomers first peered at those January 14th test images from orbit, they discovered a spherical ab...