''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 Amateur telescope making is the activity of building telescopes as a hobby, as opposed to being a paid professional. Amateur telescope makers (sometimes called ATMs) build their instruments for personal enjoyment of a technical challenge, as a wa ...

astrophotography Astrophotography, also known as astronomical imaging, is the photography or imaging of astronomical objects, celestial events, or areas of the night sky. The first photograph of an astronomical object (the Moon) was taken in 1839, but it was no ...

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. The first issue of ''Sky & Telescope'' — November 1941 — was published from a new office at the Harvard College Observatory. In 2006, Sky Publishing Corporation was sold to

New Track Media New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...

, a portfolio company of the private equity firm Boston Ventures. In 2014, New Track's portfolio was sold to

F+W Media F+W (formerly F+W Publications and F+W Media) was a media and e-commerce company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1913 in Cincinnati, F+W published magazines, books, digital products (including e-books and e-magazines), produced online ...

. Following the mid-2019 bankruptcy of F+W media, the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

acquired ''Sky & Telescope''. 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 A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe dist ...

, through the column " Gleanings for ATMs" that ran from 1933 to 1990. In December 1995, the magazine published the

Caldwell Catalogue The Caldwell catalogue is an astronomical catalogue of 109 star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies for observation by amateur astronomers. The list was compiled by Patrick Moore as a complement to the Messier catalogue. While the Messier cata ...

, which was authored by

Patrick Moore Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore (; 4 March 1923 – 9 December 2012) was an English amateur astronomer who attained prominence in that field as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter. Moore's early interest in astro ...

. The magazine's main competitor is ''

Astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

''.

Editors

* Charles A. Federer (1909–1999), first editor (1941–1964); Helen Spence Federer (1911–1983), first managing editor *

Joseph Ashbrook Joseph Ashbrook (April 4, 1918 – August 4, 1980) was an American astronomer. Biography Ashbrook was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He received a doctorate from Harvard University in 1947 and taught at Yale University from 1946 to 1950, and ...

(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 Robert Naeye is an American science journalist and former magazine editor. Early life He was born in Burlington, Vermont and raised in Hershey, Pennsylvania. He currently lives just outside Hershey. His ancestry can be traced to the Flander ...

, fifth editor in chief (2008–2014). * Peter Tyson, sixth editor-in-chief (2014–2024)
Diana Hannikainen
seventh editor in chief (2024-)

Columns

Notable magazine columns have included: * Celestial Calendar (published monthly since 1942) * Gleanings for

ATMs An automated teller machine (ATM) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, funds transfers, balance inquiries or account ...

(published between 1933 and 1990) * Astronomer's Workbench * Deep-Sky Wonders, written by

Walter Scott Houston Walter Scott Houston (May 30, 1912–December 23, 1993) was an American popularizer of amateur astronomy. He wrote the " Deep-Sky Wonders" column in ''Sky and Telescope'' magazine from 1946 to 1993. Biography Houston was born in Tippecanoe, ...

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.

References

External links