The vividly colored, exquisitely detailed, and dramatically lit Hubble Space Telescope images now define how we visualize the cosmos. They do not look like older photographs of the stars nor are they anything like what one sees on a dark night. Yet they appear to present the universe as one might see it, previewing what space explorers and tourists could experience when manned space travel extends humanity’s reach beyond the earth’s orbit. Improved technology, a telescope orbiting high above the earth’s atmosphere and sensitive digital cameras, can seem like an adequate explanation for the bri ... More

The vividly colored, exquisitely detailed, and dramatically lit Hubble Space Telescope images now define how we visualize the cosmos. They do not look like older photographs of the stars nor are they anything like what one sees on a dark night. Yet they appear to present the universe as one might see it, previewing what space explorers and tourists could experience when manned space travel extends humanity’s reach beyond the earth’s orbit. Improved technology, a telescope orbiting high above the earth’s atmosphere and sensitive digital cameras, can seem like an adequate explanation for the brilliant hues and sharp resolution. But there is more behind the images than just advanced instruments. Through a reprisal of Romantic tropes, the Hubble images once again invoke the sublime and they encourage the viewer to experience the cosmos visually and rationally, to see the universe as simultaneously beyond humanity’s grasp and within reach of our systems of knowledge. The book approaches the Hubble images in terms of their scientific, aesthetic, and cultural significance, and through this, a complex understanding of how these images shape our notion of the cosmos emerges. This interdisciplinary approach makes it a book that will appeal to those interested in art history and visual studies, history of science and technology, and media studies. It is also likely to attract readers interested in science fiction, American studies, and landscape studies.