Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy
Wow I didn't expect them to be out this soon

I'm also looking forward to the telescopes set to launch in the coming years. Several times more powerful than Hubble
You bet, though it's gonna take a while. The next thing planned is the James Webb telescope in 2013 or so, but its main objective is finding earth-like planets, not making awesome wallpapers. The true Hubble replacement, the ATLAST telescope, is still a couple decades away unfortunately.

"ATLAST is envisioned as a flagship mission of the 2025 - 2035 period, designed to address one of the most compelling questions of our time: Is there life elsewhere in our Galaxy? It will accomplish this by detecting "biosignatures" (such as molecular oxygen, ozone, water, and methane) in the spectra of terrestrial exoplanets. But ATLAST is more than just a "life-finder." ATLAST will have the performance required to reveal the underlying physics that drives star formation and to trace the complex interactions between dark matter, galaxies, and the intergalactic medium. Because of the large leap in observing capabilities that ATLAST will provide, we cannot fully anticipate the diversity or direction of the investigations that will dominate its use – just as the creators of HST did not foresee its pioneering roles in characterizing the atmospheres of Jupiter-mass exoplanets or measuring the acceleration of cosmic expansion using distant supernovae. ATLAST will have the versatility to outlast the scientific vision of current-day astronomers."