Description:
In April 1990, the space shuttle Discovery carried the Hubble Space Telescope to an altitude of some 600 kilometers above the Earth, where it has since been delivering images of the distant heavens to scientists below. Despite disappointing early results--the telescope's mirror and camera were revealed to have significant flaws, which were quickly repaired--Hubble has yielded extraordinary views, including stunning images of the birth, death, and occasional misfortunes of stars and close-up details of our planetary neighbors (such as views of the retreating Martian polar ice cap throughout the summer, exposing the great sand dunes that lie beneath, and of a Neptune beset by upper-atmospheric storms). Hubble's work has been an important adjunct to other astronomical research, allowing scientists, for one thing, to age-date star clusters far beyond our own galaxy and to propose an age for the universe of about 12 billion to 16 billion years. It has also inspired lay readers with its trove of magnificent photographs, of which this book gathers more than 100 taken over Hubble's years of duty. (NASA plans to replace Hubble with a larger successor in 2009.) The images are accompanied with a well-written explanatory text, altogether adding up to a volume that rewards repeated visits by readers of all ages. --Gregory McNamee
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