Small Magazines We Adore

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Jan 1, 2003

Byline: Geoff Van Dyke

WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT: One might think "The Essential Magazine of Astronomy" would be a scholarly journal, but it reads more like something the nerdy-but-cool guy in your high school was working on in his Advanced Physics class. From practical skywatching tips for the amateur to features about "stellar cataclysms," Sky & Telescope appeals to the inner geek in all of us.

WHY WE LOVE IT: Because, really, who doesn't love to learn about what's out there? Who doesn't love to bend his or her brain around "baryonic matter" or "a supernova bestiary" (don't ask)? And even if we tried to get through Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time and didn't understand a word, we really can read this magazine - and, at the very least, pretend we know something about astronomy beyond how to find the Big Dipper.

RECENT ARTICLES: "Anatomy of a Supernova," "Planetary Oceans," and "Other Geometries in the Autumn Sky."

AD BASE: Surprise - lots of telescopes and other "astronomical equipment," including imaging products, software, and cameras.

VERDICT: Knowing, but not too knowing; scientific, but not too scientific. Sky & Telescope is a fun read - and a great coffee-table conversation piece, to boot.