The image that changed our view of the Universe forever BBC Global

In 1995, a machine called Hubble peered into a small patch of empty sky for ten days straight.

For the scientists on Earth, it was a huge, expensive gamble.

What emerged from Hubble's patient gaze was a glittering array of 3,000 galaxies and billions of years of history staring right back at us.

Made with thanks to the Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore.