This image is one of the most photogenic examples of the many turbulent stellar nurseries the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has observed during its 30-year lifetime

• Hubble was launched by NASA on the Space Shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990 as a joint mission with ESA
• Hubble takes an 'anniversary image' every year and this year captured the NGC 2014 and NGC 2020 nebulae 
• It captured two colourful  star forming regions in the Large Magellanic Cloud about  163,000 light years away

To mark its 30th anniversary the Hubble Space Telescope team have released a stunning new image captured by the satellite showing a vast star-forming region.

Named the 'tapestry of blazing starbirth', the new image brings together the nebula NGC 2014 and its neighbour NGC 2020 - both about 163,000 light years from Earth.

They are part of the Milky Way satellite galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud and the image ha been nicknamed the 'Cosmic Reef' as it looks like an undersea world.

Hubble was launched on April 24, 1990 on the Space Shuttle Discovery and has 'revolutionised modern astronomy', according to the European Space Agency.

This wide-field view captures the pair of nebulae NGC 2014 and NGC 2020 in the constellation of Dorado. These two glowing clouds of gas, in the centre of the frame, are located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of the Milky Way's satellite galaxies

'The Hubble Space Telescope has shaped the imagination of truly a whole generation, inspiring not only scientists, but almost everybody,' said Günther Hasinger, ESA Director of Science.  

So far in its 30 year mission, the joint NASA and ESA space telescope has made 1.4 million observations and led to 17,000 research papers.

'It is one of the most prolific space observatories in history and its rich data archive will fuel future astronomy research for generations to come,' ESA wrote.

Astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, said Hubble had spent 30 years of life looking to the outer universe and 'bringing images of the most beautiful and spectacular cosmic phenomenon into our backyards'. 

He said the telescope had spent a lifetime 'bringing the universe down to Earth'.  

Each year, Hubble has a small portion of its precious observing time dedicated to taking a special anniversary image, showcasing particularly beautiful objects. 

These observations continue to challenge scientists with surprising new findings and to fascinate the public with ever more evocative images.

This year it has marked 30 years of discovery with a portrait of two colourful nebulae showing how massive stars are able to sculpt their homes of gas and dust.

Although NGC 2014 and NGC 2020 appear to be separate in the visible-light image taken by Hubble, they are actually part of one giant star formation complex. 

The star-forming regions  are dominated by the glow of stars at least 10 times more massive than our Sun. 

These stars have short lives of only a few million years, compared to the 10-billion-year lifetime of our Sun. 

'The sparkling centerpiece of NGC 2014 is a grouping of bright, hefty stars near the centre of the image that has blown away its cocoon of hydrogen gas (coloured red) and dust in which it was born,' wrote ESA.

'A torrent of ultraviolet radiation from the star cluster is illuminating the landscape around it.' 

This artists impression shows the Hubble Space Telescope floating above the Earth. In its 30 years it has led to the creation of thousands of research papers

Hubble has captured some truly amazing images during its lifetime including this of a vast orb of gas in space, cast off by an aging star named NGC 2022

The Eagle Nebula's Pillars of Creation, captured in infrared may be among the most important images ever taken by Hubble. It's a giant star forming region of space

This image of the spiral galaxy NGC 2008 sitting centre stage shows its ghostly spiral arms spreading out toward us. It's just one of millions of observations made by Hubble

These massive stars also unleash fierce winds that are eroding the gas cloud above and to the right of them. 

The gas in these areas is less dense, making it easier for the stellar winds to blast through them, creating bubble-like structures reminiscent of brain coral.

By contrast, the blue-coloured nebula below NGC 2014 has been shaped by one mammoth star that is roughly 200 000 times more luminous than our Sun.  

The star in this Hubble image is 15 times more massive than our Sun and is unleashing powerful winds, which have cleared out the area around it. 

It has ejected its outer layers of gas, sweeping them around into a cone-like shape, and exposing its searing hot core.  

Stars, both big and small, are born when clouds of dust and gas collapse because of gravity. 

This is the Cartwheel Galaxy and was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. It lies about 500 million light-years away in the constellation of Sculptor, the cartwheel shape of this galaxy is the result of a violent galactic collision

Another example of Hubble's contribution to science is this image of the bright southern hemisphere star RS Puppis, at the center of the image, is swaddled in a gossamer cocoon of reflective dust illuminated by the glittering star. The super star is ten t

This is an image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope of a young, glittering collection of stars resembling an aerial burst. The cluster is surrounded by clouds of interstellar gas and dust - the raw material for new star formation. The nebula, located

As more material falls onto the forming star, it finally becomes hot and dense enough at its centre to trigger the nuclear fusion reactions that make stars, including our Sun, shine. 

Massive stars make up only a few percent of the billions of stars in our Universe. Yet they play a crucial role in shaping our Universe, through stellar winds, supernova explosions, and the production of heavy elements.

In its 30 years, Hubble has captivated the world with stunning images of stellar objects like the crab nebula, Jupiter and the Eagle Nebular - the Pillars of Creation. 

Hubble has helped scientists pin down the age of the universe - to about 13.7 billion years - by measuring the brightness of variable stars.

'Knowing the age of the universe isn't just a matter of curiosity,' Hubble scientists said in a statement. 

'By giving us a time scale for the development of stars and galaxies, it helps us refine our models of how the universe — and everything in it — formed.' 

The tentacled Southern Crab Nebula, officially known as Hen 2-104, located several thousand light-years from Earth in the southern hemisphere constellation of Centaurus, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope on its 29th Anniversary

On the 28th anniversary the Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of the Lagoon Nebula, a vast stellar nursery located 4,000 light-years away, visible in binoculars as merely a smudge of light with a bright core

This mage captured by the Hubble Space Telescope shows the Antennae Galaxies also known as NGC 4038 and NGC 4039 which are locked in a deadly embrace. Once normal, sedate spiral galaxies like the Milky Way, the pair have spent the past few hundred million

This image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope shows blue speckles scattered across galaxy NGC 2906 - they are clusters of massive, young stars, which emit hot, blue-tinged radiation as they burn through their fuel at an immense rate

Astronaut Hazzaa AlMansoori said: 'NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has given us a tapestry of images of our universe, galaxies and stars far beyond than we imagined, that it is impossible to stress on its unquantifiable versatility and contribution to the field of space science. Happy birthday Hubble!' 

It has also given researchers an insight into the formation of galaxies in the earliest years of our universe - through a single small spot in the sky.

Hubble helped astronomers discover that Pluto had multiple moons and allowed NASA to plan the New Horizons mission to the dwarf planet. 

One of its more recent services has been to help astronomers search for planets outside of the solar system - so called exoplanets. 

Hubble is due to be replaced next year by the James Webb Space Telescope - a joint ESA and NASA project.

However, unless there is a major fault with Hubble it will likely continue providing observations at least until James Webb launches and possibly beyond. 

Unlike Hubble, James Webb will be further away - Hubble operated about 340 miles above the Earth but the James Webb telescope will be 930,000 miles away - nearly three times further away than the Moon. 

NASAs Hubble Space Telescope is still working and has made more than 1.3 million observations since its mission began in 1990

The Hubble telescope was launched on April 24, 1990, via the space shuttle Discovery from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

It is named after famed astronomer Edwin Hubble who was born in Missouri in 1889.

He is arguably most famous for discovering that the universe is expanding and the rate at which is does so - now coined the Hubble constant. 

The Hubble telescope is named after famed astronomer Edwin Hubble who was born in Missouri in 1889 (pictured)

Hubble has made more than 1.3 million observations since its mission began in 1990 and helped publish more than 15,000 scientific papers.

It orbits Earth at a speed of about 17,000mph (27,300kph) in low Earth orbit at about 340 miles in altitude.

Hubble has the pointing accuracy of .007 arc seconds, which is like being able to shine a laser beam focused on Franklin D. Roosevelt's head on a dime roughly 200 miles (320km) away.

The Hubble telescope is named after Edwin Hubble who was responsible for coming up with the Hubble constant and is one of the greatest astronomers of all-time

Hubble's primary mirror is 2.4 meters (7 feet, 10.5 inches) across and in total is 13.3 meters (43.5 feet) long - the length of a large school bus.

Hubble's launch and deployment in April 1990 marked the most significant advance in astronomy since Galileo's telescope. 

Thanks to five servicing missions and more than 25 years of operation, our view of the universe and our place within it has never been the same.