My new Sky and Telescope is old
Published on Sep 6, 2007 at 7:31 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under amateur astronomy, books.
I got my new Sky and Telescope magazine in the mail today. When I opened the packaging, my first thought was, “Wow. What did they do to it?” Then, I had a feeling of deja vu. You see, the October 2007 Sky and Telescope that I was holding in my hand sure reminded my of how it looked and felt with the June 1997 issue. I’ll say more on that later.
Now, many of you who are reading my blog might not have any clue what I am talking about, so let me explain. Sky and Telescope is an astronomy magazine that has been around for decades. Most any serious amateur astronomer knows the publication. In fact, most astronomy professors also know Sky and Telescope, and so do a number of researchers. It is one of those publications that seems able to walk the tight line between what professions in a field want and what amateurs want. It is not a research publication, but it gives very good reporting of astronomical topics in far greater depth than you would expect from most popular science type publications. It also contains product reviews for amateur telescopes and equipment, as well as observing guides. It has a fold out star chart for those new to astronomy and some guides for the very beginner. Basically, it is one publication that everyone in the field can find something in. And that is hard. If they get any more technical than they are, then they’d drive away the amateur astronomers, especially the new ones. But, if they were not as thorough, then the professional astronomers would quit reading it. Like I said, it isn’t a research publication, but it is great for keeping current in astronomy outside of your own narrow research sub-field. And, of course, it is a great resource for astronomy professors to keep current over a wide range of topics that we cover in general introductory astronomy classes.
Sky and Telescope has been around for a long time. The first issue was published in November 1941. Sky and Telescope, as a magazine, resulted from the merger of two earlier magazines: The Sky, a magazine aimed at the general public, and The Telescope, a magazine written by and for professional astronomers. Thus began over six decades of quality publishing, walking the narrow line between a professional and an amateur astronomy publication. Over the years the emphasis has changed. In many of the earlier years, Sky and Telescope published laboratory exercises for astronomy professors to use in their classes. While such exercises have not been published in the magazine for decades now, the parent company Sky Publishing has continued to be supportive of education and educational products (and those exercises, as well as star charts for students, can still be purchased).
I began reading Sky and Telescope in the mid 1980s. I was hooked. I’ve been reading it ever since. Besides astronomical news, there was a centerfold star chart. Unfortunately, that meant that you either had to carry the whole magazine with you out to do observing, or else tear it apart. For years (before the world wide web and online searches) twice a year there was an index of articles. That such a feature was there indicates how so many of us kept the magazines for reference purposes. In fact, they were so useful that I’ve still got them all!
In January 1991, the magazine got a face lift. A new boxy red and white logo appeared. This was designed to make the magazine stand out on magazine racks in stores. Also, to improve shelf life in the stores, the magazine came out a few weeks earlier than it used to. So, issues came out about a month ahead instead of right before the month started. That, reportedly, was also a help to those who got the publication overseas. They used to get the magazine too late to get as much use out of the star charts and observing guides as people would like.
The next big change came in July 1997. Again, the publication date crept forward. But the most noticeable change was in the binding. Sky and Telescope now had a book-type “perfect” binding, with the pages glued into plane along a square spine instead of being stapled together. The cover was more glossy some time earlier, and it looked more like the other magazines on the racks in the store. In fact, it amazed me at how many magazines now looked a lot like Sky and Telescope. It didn’t really stand out any more! The pages were larger, and the publication became more refined looking. The new binding was touted as a major improvement because the old stapled binding was unable to keep up with the expanding size of the publication. Personally, I had not noticed a major difference in size over the years that I’d been reading it. But, one change that the new binding had that I really liked was that it allowed for the centerfold star chart to become a detachable fold out. Another change was that not all columns would run every month, and two new feature sections were added. Sky and Telescope remained that way through the September 2007 issue, pictured at the bottom of this post.
Now, when I opened the package for the October issue, I was holding again a staple bound Sky and Telescope. Huh? What happened? I quickly picked up my September issue and looked at the number of pages. Yes, they were about the same size. I turned to the center, and there is still a center fold out star chart (but now, you have to go back to ripping it out from the staples like before). So, I read the editorial letter on page 8, and it explains that they are saving paper by making the pages smaller (I measured, and they pages are only millimeters smaller in dimension). They also save money by stapling the pages rather than gluing them. And that I like, because as you can see from the scanned images that I’ve posted here, the price has doubled since I started reading the magazine.
Sky and Telescope has gone from just a magazine in the United States to being an international publication. At first, they simply mailed the US version overseas, but now there are several international versions of Sky and Telescope published for various parts of the world. And, of course, they now have an internet site where there is a wealth of resources.
I had gotten used to the previous style, but this new one is nothing new to me — it is more like it was when I started reading it! Inside the magazine is still the same polished style with the same quality content. So, that is what is most important anyway, right?
-Astroprof
Images scanned by me.
B. Albright on October 26, 2007 at 2:36 pm: 1
Dear Astroprof,
My wife and I have been having some trouble lately with our…. oh, sorry. Wrong column.
Seriously, thanks for this article! I recently got a three year subscription to S&T through a third party telemarketing group at the astronomically (sorry….) reduced rate of $60.00, after letting my old subscription lapse. When the October mag arrived, I thought I have been the victim of a scam - they sell a cheaper magazine to the cheaper subscribers. Glad to see this is not the case. I did notice, however, that the older issues (from last year) tended to have more pages of content. Not sure how much of that was ads, however.
Thanks for your column.