author : Stuart Clark

The answers to our most profound questions lie in the depths of space. To look here is, in effect, to look back in time, because we see the light emitted long ago from distant stars and galaxies. As we stare deeper into space, we also gaze further into the past – back towards the beginning of the universe itself.

Now Deep Space allows us to see, with our own eyes, the mysterious objects and phenomena that inhabit the far reaches of the cosmos and the earliest times of existence.

Each of this book's ten chapters presents one big idea in humanity's study of the origins and evolution of the universe. These fundamental concepts include the big bang and the expanding universe; the formation of stars and planets; the anatomy and lifecycle of a galaxy; the existence of black holes and supermassive black holes; gravity and Einstein's Theory of Relativity; dark matter and dark energy; the cosmic web of galaxies; and theories of how the universe will end. Clearly explained by Stuart Clark’s lucid commentary, these cornerstones in our understanding of the universe are exemplified by a multitude of stunning images and diagrams.

Within Deep Space are over 250 of the very latest and clearest images of the cosmos, provided by the Hubble Space Telescope and other, even more advanced, viewing technologies. These cosmic exotica include: spiral, elliptical, lenticular, ring and irregular galaxies; nebulae and supernova; white dwarfs; quasars; colliding galaxies; star formation and stellar nurseries; dying and exploding stars; planets and the solar system; the large-scale structure of the cosmos; and even images that give evidence of the great ‘invisibles’ of the universe – black holes, dark matter and dark energy.