Sky & Telescope

In my opinion, it's the most professionally done popular astronomy magazine, better than "Astronomy" and more focused than "Discovery." S&T has many gorgeous astro-photos, mostly done by pros with fab equipment as well as images from the Hubble. So why does the magazine devote more than half its pages and articles to amateur telescopes and accessories? Because that's what pays the bills! So I've packed up my telescope and left it in the garage, but I still subscribe because every issue has at least one article (feature or news) about science. The monthly star map, cepheid graph, and NEWS make the rapidly increasing subscription price still worth it.


The Best   September 21, 2003
Al Schneider (Lewis, CO USA)
12 out of 13 found this review helpful

I am a retired English Professor and amateur astronomer, and I have subscribed to Sky and Telescope for over 20 years. It is the most professionally produced magazine I have ever read.

Its writing is mature and superbly edited, its photographs are beautifully rendered, its staff continually improves the magazine through better editing and production, and it provides articles on a broad range of subjects: the latest space probes and research; the dating of paintings or historical events by the night sky; Hubble and amateur photographs; meteor showers; what's up in tonight's sky; star maps; calendars of events world-wide; reviews of telescopes, accessories, computer software, and books; and more.

Sky and Telescope is widely read by professional astronomers and is probably bought by more amateurs world-wide than any other astronomy magazine.

If you have never looked through a telescope, if you use a telescope often, or if you have a telescope that you have packed up, this magazine should stimulate you to go out to see the night sky and discover where we live and what we live for.


Sky & Telescope Magazine Review   December 26, 2002
Michael W Hoy (Bradenton, FL United States)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

I have subscribed to Sky & Telescope for several years now. I have also subscribed to other Astronomical magazines including "Astronomy". I let all other subscriptions lapse but kept S & T chiefly becouse of it's "newsnotes" and "missionupdate" sections that have been expanded in recent years. The rest of the magazine is equatable to "Astronomy", lot's of great pictures, some good science features and way too much advertising. On the plus side of the ads is that that is how we keep up on new inovations in the hobby. Of particular note are the classifieds - if anyone ever buys that 73" diameter Large Cervit Mirror Blank please invite me to your observatory!


A must read for astronomers   December 24, 2002
Robert Price (Palatine, IL United States)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

I always enjoy reading this magazine. It is the most intelligent of the astronomy related magazines. It gives basic observing information for that month and articles on various topics from space exploration to the latest theories in astronomy to reviews on astronomical equipment. If you are interested in amateur astronomy this is a good place to start.


Equipment vs Science   December 22, 2002
Mehetabelle (Silicon Valley United States)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

I read S&T for YEARS and read each issue avidly, often several times, so I know of what I speak. My main interests are astrophysics and cosmology, and every issue has something, however brief, about one or the other of these topics. But the rest of the magazine is heavily laden with ads and articles about equipment, mainly for amateur observers. I once counted that of a total of 72 pages, 50 were about equipment -- telescopes, domes, eyepieces... This is a pretty consistent ratio. There are plenty of lower quality magazines devoted to equipment, meant for children, educators, etc. Well, the reality of publishing is, scientific researchers don't pay for ads. But whoever is doing S&T's marketing should try to position the content more for serious astronomers.

Yeah, I know that most amateur astronomers are into observation. The monthly photo gallery is unsurpassed in GORGEOUSNESS but they're done by very sophisticated photographers using very sophisticated equipment and techniques. You'll never be able to see it yourself even if you bought everything that's advertised in every issue. Why not just look at the beautifully reproduced pictures, with excellent reference on how it was done (aperture, exposure time, location, camera type... even background about the photographers).

So I ... get one nugget of info that is directly of interest to me, get beautiful pictures that I can't see otherwise, a great star chart, and excellent news coverage. Oh I loved the issue on meteorites; it opened a whole new area of study for me. So as much as I hate the emphasis on equipment, it's still worth it.