Stellar Populations [Book Review]

Abstract

In 1979 the International Astronomical Union held a colloquium on scientific research with the Space Telescope. At that time, the expected launch date was 1983; it is now late 1988 or early 1989. Stellar Populations contains the invited review papers from a meeting on that subject held at the Space Telescope Science Institute in May of 1986. This is an area of research in which the Space Telescope is sure to make great contributions and exciting discoveries. One's first impression on comparing this volume with the proceedings of the 1979 symposium (Scientific Research with the Space Telescope, U.S. Government Printing Office) is that tremendous progress has occurred within the past decade, even though astronomers have been largely limited to observations with ground-based telescopes. Because of the continuous improvement in the quantum efficiency of detectors and in the speed of computers, which in turn affects the ability of astronomers to analyze, interpret, and model their data, many of the problems outlined in 1979 have begun to be resolved.