Book Review: Hubble's Universe: Greatest Discoveries and Latest Images by Terence Dickinson

The Hubble Space Telescope dates to:

• 1951, for conceptualization of an Earth-orbiting, sky-surveying, universe-peering telescope in Arthur C. Clarke’s (December 16, 1917 – March 19, 2008) The Exploration of Space;
• 1970s, for construction;
• 1983, for designation; and
• 1986, for relegation to storage after the Challenger shuttle’s post-launch break-up in January.

Ground-bounded existences end in April 1990 when the Hubble’s space-bound agenda starts thanks to being part of the shuttle missions. Repairs and upgrades 341.75 miles (550 kilometers) above Earth in 1993, 1997, 1999, 2002, and 2009 find the bus-shaped, twelve-ton Hubble still part of the Great Space Observatory with:

• the high Earth-orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory from 1999 onward; and
• the infrared-observing, sun-orbiting Spitzer Space Telescope from 2003 onward. 

Per-second speeds of 5 miles (8.05 kilometers) get Hubble around Earth every 97 minutes to:

• cancel airglow’s background light;
• collect gamma, infrared, ultraviolet, X-ray wavelengths; and
• counter light population.

Hubble has information resolving:

• big-banged, big-crunched, big-ripped configurations;
• blue-, green-, red-filtered energy-, reflection-, temperature-, wavelength-determined colors;
• blue super-giants and red/yellow dwarfs becoming black holes/neutron stars and white dwarfs; and
• HD 209458a, WASP 12-b exo-planets.

Info-imagery impels scientists to:

• date stellar emergences to 400,000,000 years after the big bang 13,700,000,000 years ago;
• estimate universal expansion at 46.17 miles (74.3 kilometers) per second per megaparsec (3,260,000 light-years);
• find distances by Cepheid luminosity and pulsation; and
• give the universe as 1% luminous, 3% interstellar hydrogen, 22% dark matter, 74% dark energy. 

Need-to-know content joins user-friendly form with cutting-edge, state-of-the-art chapters on:

• Blaze of glory;
• Crucibles of creation;
• Empires of stars;
• Hubble’s invisible universe, top science accomplishments, universe;
• Message of starlight;
• Neighbor worlds; and
• Starry tapestry.

The fun fact-filled pace keeps up through the appendices, with:

• author biography;
• index;
• photo credits; and
• resources (books, DVDs, reports, websites);

So Hubble’s Universe leads audiences through the greatest discoveries and latest images from 5,000+ yearly orbits worth of culturally enriching, educationally entertaining, and geo-historically enthralling information-filled imagery, thanks to:

• Susan Dickinson, copyeditor;
• Terence Dickinson, author;
• Lionel Koffler, Firefly Books owner;
• Janice McLean, Bookmakers Press Inc. cover and interior designer;
• Tracy C. Read, editor; and
• Ray Villard, Space Telescope Science Institute news chief. 

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Hubble Space Telescope projected was relegated to storage after space shuttle Challenger's January 1986 breakup and then restarted in April 1990.
explosion of space shuttle Challenger shortly after launch Tuesday, Jan. 28, 1986; NASA ID: S86-38989: Not subject to copyright, via NASA Image and Video Library @ https://images.nasa.gov/details-S86-38989

Chandra X-ray Observatory: the most sensitive X-ray telescope ever built
Third of NASA's four Great Observatories honors Punjabi American astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (October 19, 1910 – August 21, 1995).
image courtesy NASA/CXC/NGST (NASA/Chandra X-Ray Center/Next Generation Space Telescope: Not subject to copyright, via NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS) @ https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/details.cgi?aid=11185

Hubble Space Telescope in high orbit 600 kilometers above the Earth
image release date Wednesday, January 26, 2011, 17:33: European Space Agency, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Hubble_Space_Telescope_in_orbit.tif; European Space Agency, CC BY 4.0, via ESA Hubble @ https://esahubble.org/images/hubble_in_orbit1/; CC BY 4.0, via ESA/Hubble @ https://esahubble.org/images/hubble_in_orbit1/

Two asteroids (272 Dickinson, 5272 Dicksinson) are named after astronomy author and astrophotographer Terence Dickinson.
American astronomer Edward "Ted" L. G. Bowell discovered the main-belt asteroid, designated 1981 QH2, at Anderson Mesa Station, Coconino County, north central Arizona.
5272 Dickinson on Sunday, Aug. 30, 1981, the date of the asteroid's discovery: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL Solar System Dynamics (SSD) @ https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=5272&view=VOP

Hubble's most famous image: iconic Eagle Nebula's "Pillars of Creation" as 1995 original (left) and as 2014 update
Near-infrared light photography transforms 2014 update of 1995 pillars into eerie, wispy silhouettes against a background of myriad stars. NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)/J. Hester, P. Scowen (Arizona State U.)
NASA Hubble Mission Team, Goddard Space Flight Center, "Hubble Goes High-Definition to Revisit Iconic 'Pillars of Creation'", NASA article Jan. 5, 2015: Generally not subject to copyright in the United States, via NASA @ https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-goes-high-definition-to-revisit-iconic-pillars-of-creation

Dickinson, Terence. 2014. Hubble's Universe: Greatest Discoveries and Latest Images. Buffalo, NY, U.S.A.: Firefly Books (U.S.) Inc.; and Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada: Firefly Books Ltd.