Sky & Telescope

Sky & Telescope (S&T) is a monthly magazine about stars, planets, and all things in space. It helps both hobby stargazers and scientists share what they discover and what we can see in the night sky. You can find guides for spotting planets, galaxies, star clusters, and other wonders in the night sky.

The magazine also reviews telescopes and other tools people use to study the stars. It talks about what’s happening in the world of amateur astronomy, including making your own telescope and taking pictures of the night sky through astrophotography.

Articles are written for readers who love learning about space but aren’t scientists themselves. They often include colorful pictures from both amateur and professional photographers, along with tables and charts showing when and where to see special events in the sky.

History

Sky & Telescope was started by Charles A. Federer and his wife Helen Spence Federer. They created the Sky Publishing Corporation in late 1939 to manage a magazine called The Sky, which shared ideas for amateur astronomers. In mid-1941, they also managed another magazine, The Telescope, where they wrote about space discoveries for everyday readers. The first issue of Sky & Telescope came out in November 1941 from an office at the Harvard College Observatory.

In 2006, the Sky Publishing Corporation was sold to New Track Media. In 2014, New Track’s group was sold to F+W Media. After F+W Media faced financial troubles in mid-2019, the American Astronomical Society took over Sky & Telescope.

For many years before the internet, Sky & Telescope helped connect amateur astronomers all over the world. The magazine shared important ideas about telescope making through a column called "Gleanings for ATMs" from 1933 to 1990. In December 1995, the magazine published the Caldwell Catalogue, written by Patrick Moore.

The magazine's main competitor is Astronomy.

Editors

The magazine "Sky & Telescope" has had many editors over the years. Charles A. Federer was the first editor, followed by Helen Spence Federer as the first managing editor. Later editors included Joseph Ashbrook, Leif Robinson, Richard Fienberg, Robert Naeye, Peter Tyson, and currently Diana Hannikainen. Each brought their own ideas and passion to making the magazine a great place to learn about the stars and planets.

Columns

Sky & Telescope has many popular columns. One is the Celestial Calendar, which has been published every month since 1942. Another is Deep-Sky Wonders, written by Walter Scott Houston from 1946 to 1993 and later by Sue French until 2018. There is also a column called Binocular Highlights, which started in 1994 and became its own special section in 2006. These columns have even been turned into books!

Websites

In the late 1990s, Sky & Telescope started a website showing night-sky sights and the newest astronomy news. After the magazine was bought by the nonprofit American Astronomical Society in 2019, the website address changed to skyandtelescope.org. Now, the website gets about 500,000 visitors each month. There is also a related website, shopatsky.com, where you can buy globes, books, and other astronomy items.

Sky & Telescope can also be read in print or digitally by subscribers using the Nxtbook platform.