The Teaching Company (also known as The Great Courses) has just released an 18-lecture video course by CIERA Prof. Dave Meyer entitled “A Visual Guide to the Universe“. In this course, produced in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution, Meyer discusses the scientific stories behind some of the most spectacular cosmic images obtained by NASA space probes and observatories over the past 20 years. The lecture topics range from Cassini’s close-up view of Saturn’s rings to Spitzer’s infrared panorama of star formation in the Swan Nebula to Hubble’s detailed view of the most peculiar galaxies. A key emphasis throughout the course is how such images have made it possible to visualize and understand a universe that is mostly invisible to the Earth-bound human eye.