New Magazine Targets Novice Stargazers

Posted on March 12, 2004

Night Sky, a new magazine from Sky Publishing which mails to charter subscribers on March 26th and hits newsstands nationwide on April 13th, is designed especially for entry-level stargazers. Night Sky will be sold on newsstands for $3.99 per copy and by subscription for $17.99 for one year (six issues).

Each colorful issue of the new bimonthly will provide readers with easy-to-use star charts and illustrations; a calendar of celestial events visible even from light-polluted cities; a how-to section for telescope owners; jargon-free science and hobby information; overviews of telescopes, accessories, books, software, and other astronomy products; and a gallery of stunning astrophotos taken by stargazers around the world.

"We've lined up some noteworthy contributors," said Kelly Beatty, editor of Night Sky and himself an expert with 30 years' experience writing about astronomy. David Levy, known worldwide for his comet-hunting achievements, is writing a preview of two naked-eye comets, NEAT and LINEAR, which should be widely visible in May 2004.

Sky Publishing also publishes the monthly Sky & Telescope, which has been serving amateur astronomers since 1941. According to the company's president and publisher, Susan Lit, "Night Sky magazine reaches out to a different audience than Sky & Telescope -- it will have broader appeal by virtue of the fact that its content will be accessible to anyone just getting started in the hobby."

Sky Publishing Corp. was founded in 1941 by Charles A. Federer Jr. and Helen Spence Federer, the original editors of Sky & Telescope magazine. The company's headquarters are in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. In addition to Sky & Telescope, SkyandTelescope.com, Night Sky, and NightSkyMag.com, the company publishes two annual magazines, Beautiful Universe and SkyWatch, an annual wall calendar called Celestial Wonders, as well as books, star atlases, posters, prints, globes, and other astronomy products.