UA Astronomy Professor’s New Book is of Interest to Stargazers and Students Alike

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dr. William Keel, professor of astronomy in The University of Alabama’s department of physics and astronomy, recently published a book “The Road to Galaxy Formation,” that will be of use to those who love to look at the stars, as well as undergraduate and beginning graduate students.

Keel will give a talk about some of the information in his book on the UA campus at Rodgers Library for science and engineering on April 22 at 3 p.m. Rodgers Library is on the corner of Hackberry Lane and Campus Drive.

Keel has completed considerable work on both the Hubble Space Telescope and major ground based telescopes all over the world. In the past, he has served on the committee that makes decisions about allocating Hubble Space Telescope viewing time. He also has completed work in the area of image improvement for objects seen through the space telescope.

“Technological developments in the last decade are giving us serious glimpses of how galaxies formed, one of the three “Origins” questions that have turned into an organizing theme in NASA science programs, for example,” Keel said. “This may be the first book at this level to deal with the first start in the Universe, the growth of black holes at the centers of galaxies and the connection of stars’ history to the tenuous gas between galaxies, which we’ve only recently been able to observe.”

The book received a favorable review in the Feb. 2003 issue of “Nature” magazine. “Keel’s own research has covered a wide range of topics, which is reflected in the richness and variety of subjects covered in this book,” the reviewer wrote. “It is refreshing, in a market dominated by theorists, to come across a book on galaxy formation written from an observational perspective.”

“The Road to Galaxy Formation” published by Springer-Praxis Publishers, 2002, is designed to appeal to undergraduate students, graduate students, theoreticians and other stargazers. The department of physics and astronomy is in the College of Arts and Sciences, UA’s largest college.