Get the Hubble Deep Field eBook for Free!

Friday, 24 April 2020, marks the 30th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope aboard Discovery on Space Shuttle mission STS-31. Discovery's astronauts deployed the telescope the next day. To celebrate this historic milestone, the AAS and IOP Publishing are making Robert Williams's ebook Hubble Deep Field and the Distant Universe available for free on Friday-Saturday, 24-25 April 2020.

Bob Williams was director of the Space Telescope Science Institute in the mid-1990s when he came up with the idea of pointing Hubble at a "blank" piece of sky and taking an unprecedentedly long exposure. Thanks to his allotment of director's discretionary time, he was ideally positioned to make the observations, which some others in the astronomical community thought might be a waste of time. As it turned out, the Hubble Deep Field became famous overnight, not only for the way it uniquely captured the history of galaxy formation and evolution in one picture, but also for the degree to which that remarkable picture inspired and awed the public.

Hubble Deep Field and the Distant Universe describes a watershed event in the history of astronomy and recounts the development of space astronomy more generally. It is aimed at a wide audience, including amateur astronomers, professional researchers, science historians, and students interested in science. Williams tells of the progression of events that led to the momentous image, gives fascinating insight into the processes by which astronomical research is carried out, and describes many of the key discoveries made with Hubble.

To get your free copy of this terrific ebook, visit the Hubble Deep Field and the Distant Universe page on Friday or Saturday, 24 or 25 April 2020, and click any of the three links (PDF, ePub, or Kindle) under "Download ebook."