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Hubble: 15 Jahre auf Entdeckungsreise
Das Buch ist Teil der Aktivitäten der ESA, der Europäischen Raumfahrtagentur, anlässlich des 15. Geburtstages des Hubble Weltraumteleskops.
Dieses Teleskop ist eines der bekanntesten, populärsten Wissenschaftsgeräte überhaupt, nicht zuletzt durch die spektakulären Bilder in Printmedien.
Dieses Werk enthält prachtvolle Bilder zu diversen Phänomenen des Kosmos, erklärt durch kurze, verständliche Texte. Eine DVD mit umfangreichem Bild- und Filmmaterial ergänzt das Werk.
Dieses Teleskop ist eines der bekanntesten, populärsten Wissenschaftsgeräte überhaupt, nicht zuletzt durch die spektakulären Bilder in Printmedien.
Dieses Werk enthält prachtvolle Bilder zu diversen Phänomenen des Kosmos, erklärt durch kurze, verständliche Texte. Eine DVD mit umfangreichem Bild- und Filmmaterial ergänzt das Werk.
122 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
22 people want to read
About the author
Lars Lindberg Christensen
19 books7 followersLars Lindberg Christensen is an author and a science communication specialist heading the Hubble European Space Agency Information Centre (HEIC) group in Munich, Germany where he is responsible for public outreach and education for the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in Europe at the European Southern Observatory (ESO/ST-ECF).
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 4, 2023
Hubble: 15 Years of Discovery recounts the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) mission from its launch in 1990 to 2005. The book is a companion to a documentary film of the same name, which is available on YouTube as I write this review. For continuing updates, see the HST article on Wikipedia.
Like seemingly all books about the HST, this one tells how it got off to a famously difficult start, with a primary mirror that turned out to have been very precisely ground to a very slightly wrong shape. This resulted in disappointingly blurred images, and a lot of grist for late-night comedians. Fortunately for the mission, the equipment used to grind, polish, and test the mirror was still available, so scientists and engineers were able to study it and develop optics to correct the error. These "eyeglasses" traveled to the HST on a Space Shuttle servicing mission in 1993 and fully corrected the problem, unleashing a flood of stunningly sharp images better than astronomers had ever seen. Almost everywhere the HST pointed, it sent back jaw-dropping images along with data and discoveries that transformed one area of science after another. The HST is a strong candidate for the most successful scientific space mission so far.
From their perspective in 2005, the authors wrote:
As I write this review, Hubble soldiers on, at 32 years and 8 months. After the first servicing mission that saved the HST, additional servicing missions continued to upgrade instruments and capabilities. The final servicing mission was in 2009, after the book was published. The Space Shuttle program has since been discontinued, so the servicing spacecraft no longer flies, but other spacecraft may be able to take over the job and extend HST's operating life by additional decades.
The authors anticipated Hubble's successor:
That day came, but later than expected, with the first reveal of a JWST image to the public in July, 2022. The JWST has even greater capability than the HST, but there's more demand from astronomers than both instruments can meet.
The book shows its age in other spots, including an out-of-date reference to Pluto as a planet:
Alas for poor Pluto, in 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) formally redefined the term "planet" to exclude dwarf planets such as Pluto. For more on Pluto's sad demotion see How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming.
The book is also behind subsequent discoveries of exoplanets:
Some "Earth-like" planets have since been found, at least planets that are similar in size to Earth and at the right distances from their parent stars. Astronomers can't yet tell how much else such explanets may have in common with Earth. For a more recent update see Planetary Systems: A Very Short Introduction (2022).
The main draw of the book is the photographs, and they deliver. The HST has produced hundreds of thousands of images, many of them the clearest images of astronomical objects ever seen (before the JWST likely improves on them). Since NASA is an agency of the US government, its images are free from copyright. Many of them illustrate articles on Wikipedia, such as NGC 2207 and IC 2163.
The book highlights several of the important scientific advances that Hubble made possible. All in all it's an inspiring book despite needing an update. It's great to read along with more text-heavy books such as the Oxford Very Short Introductions on astronomy-related topics.
Like seemingly all books about the HST, this one tells how it got off to a famously difficult start, with a primary mirror that turned out to have been very precisely ground to a very slightly wrong shape. This resulted in disappointingly blurred images, and a lot of grist for late-night comedians. Fortunately for the mission, the equipment used to grind, polish, and test the mirror was still available, so scientists and engineers were able to study it and develop optics to correct the error. These "eyeglasses" traveled to the HST on a Space Shuttle servicing mission in 1993 and fully corrected the problem, unleashing a flood of stunningly sharp images better than astronomers had ever seen. Almost everywhere the HST pointed, it sent back jaw-dropping images along with data and discoveries that transformed one area of science after another. The HST is a strong candidate for the most successful scientific space mission so far.
From their perspective in 2005, the authors wrote:
Hubble’s future is uncertain. It was originally designed to operate for 15 years, but it is now expected that its life could be extended to 20 years. Hubble is still producing the most astonishing results that astronomers have ever known.
As I write this review, Hubble soldiers on, at 32 years and 8 months. After the first servicing mission that saved the HST, additional servicing missions continued to upgrade instruments and capabilities. The final servicing mission was in 2009, after the book was published. The Space Shuttle program has since been discontinued, so the servicing spacecraft no longer flies, but other spacecraft may be able to take over the job and extend HST's operating life by additional decades.
The authors anticipated Hubble's successor:
The James Webb Space Telescope is currently being designed and may be launched as early as 2011. When that day comes, scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope hope to discover and understand even more about our fascinating Universe.
That day came, but later than expected, with the first reveal of a JWST image to the public in July, 2022. The JWST has even greater capability than the HST, but there's more demand from astronomers than both instruments can meet.
The book shows its age in other spots, including an out-of-date reference to Pluto as a planet:
Even now, there is no exact estimate of how much matter or even how many planets exist within our Solar System. Since Pluto’s discovery in the 1930s, and its satellite Charon’s in the 1970s, astronomers have tried to figure out if there is anything else out there beyond the ninth planet.
Alas for poor Pluto, in 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) formally redefined the term "planet" to exclude dwarf planets such as Pluto. For more on Pluto's sad demotion see How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming.
The book is also behind subsequent discoveries of exoplanets:
Even though the solar system clearly has many more surprises in store for us, Hubble has also turned its eye out towards other stars, looking for planetary systems. Astronomers are beginning their search for life elsewhere in the Universe. The primary objective is to find earth-like planets. These are very much harder to detect than massive ‘Jupiters’ and, as yet, none have been found.
Some "Earth-like" planets have since been found, at least planets that are similar in size to Earth and at the right distances from their parent stars. Astronomers can't yet tell how much else such explanets may have in common with Earth. For a more recent update see Planetary Systems: A Very Short Introduction (2022).
The main draw of the book is the photographs, and they deliver. The HST has produced hundreds of thousands of images, many of them the clearest images of astronomical objects ever seen (before the JWST likely improves on them). Since NASA is an agency of the US government, its images are free from copyright. Many of them illustrate articles on Wikipedia, such as NGC 2207 and IC 2163.
The book highlights several of the important scientific advances that Hubble made possible. All in all it's an inspiring book despite needing an update. It's great to read along with more text-heavy books such as the Oxford Very Short Introductions on astronomy-related topics.
November 6, 2021
A very interesting introduction about the Hubble telescope. The pictures used in this book are amazing. A must-read for everyone interested in astronomy.
October 1, 2025
Amazing! pictures used in this book are very clean!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews