The heavens are alive with breathtaking beauty: from the incandescent surface of the Sun to the shimmering tail of a comet; the birth of planets to the death of stars; the dancing shadows of Jupiter's moons to the silhouettes of eclipses. The Cosmic Gallery contemplates the entire cosmos as a grand celestial art exhibit. In six thematically organized chapters, Giles Sparrow presents an array of stunning images, ranging from easily seen phenomena to the most distant and intricate galaxies, providing the reader with an exciting and beautiful new perspective on the cosmos.

This stunning collection of cutting-edge images and concise essays surveys the key breakthroughs that have shaped our understanding of the universe around us — from the discovery of the solar system to Supermassive black holes and the remote depths of the cosmos. Beginning with the theories put forward for the origin of our universe — the Big Bang and its rivals — and ending with what the eventual fate of our cosmos might be, this overview of 100 landmark discoveries tells the story of how we have endeavoured to understand the place of our own planet in the wider universe. Among the key concepts and discoveries examined are: the origin and development of matter; the Milky Way; the Sun and our solar system; the quest for life on Mars; the mysteries of star death and extreme objects; supernovae and 'hypernovae'; Dark Energy and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Superbly illustrated with over 300 stunning photographs, computer-generated images and illustrations which clarify even the most complex theories, this is a thought-provoking account of the scientific revelations that have shed light on our place in the universe and — perhaps the biggest question of all — if life exists anywhere else in the cosmos.

Using a wealth of high-resolution images collected by a fleet of telescopes, satellites and inter-planetary probes, Cosmos Close-up embarks on a voyage across the universe, pausing only to zoom in on the most spectacular planets, stars, galaxies and nebulae. After a fly past of our planetary neighbours we reach the edge of the solar system — a mere 15 light hours away — emerging into interstellar space and heading for the heart of our galaxy. The rhythms of stellar life unfold before our eyes: dark clouds of dust and gas blaze with clusters newly smelted stars, dying stars bloom and fade as planetary nebulae, or tear themselves apart as supernovae. Navigating through thick swarms of stars, we reach the galactic core, a gravitational maelstrom of exotic stars in the thrall of a supermassive black hole. Hundreds of thousands of light years must be covered to reach the Milky Way's companions, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, and millions more devoured before we cross true intergalactic space. Out here we watch the hidden lives of galaxies: we see them locked in gravitational combat, tearing each other apart or swallowing their companions whole. Now billions of light years from Earth, we can discern the large-scale structure of the universe: massive conglomerations of galaxies gather like grains of dust on a veil of cobwebs, warping space with their tremendous gravity. Having crossed an almost unimaginable 13.4 billion light years, we encounter a wall of radiation. Here our voyage into the cosmos must finally end, for we have reached the very edge of the visible universe: what stands before us is the afterglow of the Big Bang itself.

The magnificent vault of stars emblazoning Earth's night skies are but an infinitesimal fraction of the hundreds of billions that inhabit our galaxy — and there are at least as many galaxies in the universe as there are stars in the Milky Way. Cosmos makes sense of this dizzying celestial panorama by exploring it one step at a time, illustrating the planets, moons, stars, nebulae, white dwarfs, black holes and other exotica that populate the heavens with some of science's most spectacular photographs. The book opens with an orbital survey of planet Earth, before venturing into the solar system heading for interstellar space and the heart of our galaxy. As the journey unfolds, the rhythms of stellar life emerge: we pass through dark clouds of dust and gas ablaze with newly smelted stars and we witness dying stars bloom and fade as planetary nebulae, or tear themselves apart as supernovae. Having crossed the Milky Way, we enter intergalactic space. Out here we watch the hidden lives of galaxies: we see them flock and cluster, forming massive conglomerations that span millions of light years, visibly warping space with their tremendous gravity. After covering an almost unimaginable 13.4 billion light years, we approach the edge of space and the dawn of time where our voyage must end, but not before we consider how the universe was born, and how it might die.