Astrophysics, not just astronomy, has transformed our understanding of the universe. In the past century, we've uncovered amazing details about the cosmos, accelerated by powerful instruments. This lecture introduces key astrophysics concepts, including major shifts in our view of the universe, and explores how space telescopes like Hubble and James Webb have revealed the formation of massive galaxies. We’ll also look at the exciting future of new observatories and how machine learning is driving breakthroughs. This event is part of the Naturally Speaking VLM Series.