Revel in this photographic journey--complete with a foreword by the illustrious Professor Stephen Hawking--of the awe-inspiring beauty of the cosmos. Complemented by insightful descriptions, these photographs are some of the most remarkable ever taken of our universe. Organized thematically into nebulas, stars, the sun, the planets, satellites, galaxies, and the origins of the universe, the entries cover everything from asteroids to white dwarfs. Special boxes highlight significant facts, including the name of the space probe or telescope that captured each image and the distance of the object from Earth. An entire section is devoted to the spacecraft from which the images were taken, including their purpose, who built them, where they have travelled, and what they have discovered.