Cosmic Light

What strange new worlds lie unseen in the deep cosmos? Discover unimaginable wonders in an extraordinarily beautiful collection of cosmic imagery, made possible by groundbreaking observatories and instruments which have expanded visibility of the universe beyond the limits of the human eye, like the VLT in Chile and the James Webb Space Telescope. Did you know that there are strange radio waves permeating the entire Universe, and cataclysmic x-rays bursting out in the Milky Way’s spiral arms? Delight in these spectacular sights for the first time in this visually arresting and colourful space book, where astronomical artworks – an awe-inspiring feast for the eyes – are demystified by experts. Visible light makes up a small fraction of the radiation we receive from space, and the demand for discovery has driven technological advances that allow astronomers to observe everything from the hum of young stars sending radio waves across the Galaxy, to intense bursts of gamma radiation released by energetic events beyond imagination. As a result, a dizzying variety of strange and wonderful images have been produced, some of which combine multiple forms of light to illuminate invisible details and unlock scientific secrets about the sky.