The Ghost in the Telescope. The Story of the Herschel Space Observatory - Stephen Eales

The Ghost in the Telescope is an insider’s account of the Herschel Space Observatory, which was built to answer the questions of how the stars and galaxies were born.

Written in an engaging manner for a general audience, the book tells the stories of the telescope itself, the discoveries it made, and the engineers and astronomers who made and used it.

The book, based on the author’s own experience and interviews with the key astronomers and engineers, tells the story of the mission, from its original concept on a piece of paper in Venice to the moment after the end of the mission when the engineers had to decide whether to crash the spacecraft into the Moon. Containing some of the most spectacular pictures ever taken of the universe, the book describes all the major discoveries made with the telescope. The book also gives an account, accessible to anyone without previous scientific knowledge, of the latest research into the births of stars and galaxies.

The book will interest anyone who is curious about astronomy, space missions, and how astronomy is done in practice. It is designed to be easy to read and does not require any previous scientific background.