Universe in Focus

The Hubble telescope, launched into orbit 320 miles above the Earth in 1990, carries optical and other instruments able to look deep into space without interference from the Earth's atmosphere. The resulting photographs and data reveal the extraordinary beauty of the universe beyond Earth, and are helping to shape man's theories about the origins of the stars and planets. This is the story of the Hubble telescope, and the new vision it has given of the universe and the galaxies beyond, from Hubble's groundbreaking research in the 1920s to the launch, and the triumphal repair in space of the orbiting telescope in 1993. The text is accompanied by a collection of visually stunning colour photographs, all taken from space.