Sky & Telescope

Sky & Telescope

Editor in Chief	Diana Hannikainen
Categories	Astronomy
Frequency	Monthly
Total circulation (2020)	62,234
Founded	1941
First issue	November 1941
Company	American Astronomical Society
Country	United States
Based in	Cambridge, Massachusetts
Language	English
Website	https://www.skyandtelescope.org
ISSN	0037-6604

Sky & Telescope (S&T) is a monthly magazine covering all aspects of amateur and professional astronomy, including what to see in the sky tonight and new findings in astronomy. Other topics covered include:

• observing guides for planets, galaxies, star clusters, and other objects visible in the night sky
• reviews of telescopes and other astronomical equipment, books, and software
• events in the amateur astronomy community
• amateur telescope making
• astrophotography

The articles are intended for the informed lay reader and include detailed discussions of current discoveries, frequently by participating scientists. The magazine is illustrated in full color, with both amateur and professional photography of celestial sights, as well as tables and charts of upcoming celestial events.

History

Sky & Telescope was founded by Charles A. Federer and his wife Helen Spence Federer. The duo had formed the Sky Publishing Corporation in late 1939 to manage a magazine called The Sky , which focused on content for the amateur astronomy community. Then in mid-1941, they took on the editorial management of another magazine, The Telescope , where articles appeared presenting scientific findings for a popular audience. ^[1] The first issue of Sky & Telescope — November 1941 ^[2] — was published from a new office at the Harvard College Observatory. ^[3]

In 2006, Sky Publishing Corporation was sold to New Track Media, ^[4] a portfolio company of the private equity firm Boston Ventures. ^[5] In 2014, New Track's portfolio was sold to F+W Media. ^[6] Following the mid-2019 bankruptcy of F+W media, the American Astronomical Society acquired Sky & Telescope. ^[7]

For decades before the rise of the internet, Sky & Telescope played a vital role in joining amateur astronomers across the country, and eventually across the globe. The magazine played an important role in the dissemination of knowledge about telescope making, through the column "Gleanings for ATMs" that ran from 1933 to 1990. In December 1995, the magazine published the Caldwell Catalogue, which was authored by Patrick Moore. ^[8]

The magazine's main competitor is Astronomy .

Editors

• Charles A. Federer (1909–1999), first editor (1941–1964); Helen Spence Federer (1911–1983), first managing editor
• Joseph Ashbrook (1918–1980), second editor (1964–1980)
• Leif Robinson (1939–2011), third editor (1980–2000)
• Richard Fienberg (1956– ), fourth editor in chief (2000–2008)
• Robert Naeye, fifth editor in chief (2008–2014).
• Peter Tyson, sixth editor-in-chief (2014–2024)

Columns

Notable magazine columns have included:

• Celestial Calendar (published monthly since 1942)
• Gleanings for ATMs (published between 1933 and 1990)
• Astronomer's Workbench
• Deep-Sky Wonders, written by Walter Scott Houston from 1946 to 1993 and by Sue French from 1993 to 2018
• Binocular Highlights: Originally part of the "Stars & Planets" column, starting in March 1994, it became its own column in 2006 as Northern Binocular Highlights, later simply Binocular Highlights.

Collections of Deep-Sky Wonders and Binocular Highlights columns were subsequently published as books.

Websites

In the late 1990s, Sky & Telescope launched a website featuring night-sky sights and the latest developments in astronomy. With the magazine's change in ownership to the nonprofit American Astronomical Society in 2019, the URL changed to skyandtelescope.org. The website's viewership has since grown to 500,000 visitors per month. An associated website, shopatsky.com, offers globes, atlases, books, and other products.

Sky & Telescope is also accessible to both print and digital subscribers via the Nxtbook platform.

See also

• Amateur astronomy
• Amateur telescope making

References

1. Federer, Charles A. (November 1986). "The Story of 'The Sky'". Sky & Telescope (75): 461–63.
2. Richard Tresch Fienberg; J. Kelly Beatty (December 11, 2015). "Night Sky Magazine to Cease Publication". Sky & Telescope. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
3. "Sky and Telescope - November 2016". www.nxtbook.com. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
4. "Press Releases". February 13, 2006. Archived from the original on February 21, 2011. Retrieved March 8, 2011.
5. "New Track Media: Fund VI". January 2006. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 8, 2011.
6. Mickey, Bill (January 17, 2014). "F+W Media Buys New Track Media". Foliomag. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
7. "F+W Media Reveals Winning Bidders at Bankruptcy Auction". Folio. June 17, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
8. Moore, Patrick (December 1995). "Beyond Messier: The Caldwell Catalogue". Sky & Telescope. 90 (6): 38. Bibcode:1995S&T....90...38M. Archived from the original (subscription required) on January 16, 2009. Retrieved August 29, 2006.

External links

• Official website