Sky at Night vs Astronomy Now

[E621Keith]

Have been a subscriber of S@N for a while now and I must admit I do like it. Correct me if I am wrong but all the other astronomy mags are written for the US market????? With that In mind I like the S@N as it is written with UK astronomers in mind. I am sure that someone will correct me if I have got it wrong. Maybe I should pick up a copy of one of the others and give it a go.

Also you get the cd with the S@N which can prove useful with additional sky maps, articles, etc.........

Astronomy Now is UK based for the UK market. It was the bigger UK astronomy mag before BBC start publishing S@N.

[SteveA]

I subscribe to both AN and S@N - have done for years - and normally find several articles of interest each month in both of them.

Don't you get a free copyof S@N these days Steve ??

[garethmob]

Don't you get a free copyof S@N these days Steve ??

lol if there was a like button id click it

as i said one of my fav parts is the what to image section, even the scope doctor is very good too

[Jon Sales]

AN for me too but I will always have a look thru S @ N and the others in case there us anything in them that I want to read.

[steppenwolf]

Don't you get a free copyof S@N these days Steve ??

Actually, as of about 6 months ago, I do

[coulthamst]

After several years of taking both magazines, I am finding myself less and less enamoured of the preponderance of articles on professional and academic level subjects, mostly of the cosmological variety. Usually 75% of the magazines content is of this nature. Whilst I find such topics of interest, I would much prefer a magazine more focused on amateur observer's needs. For me, the ideal balance would be around 30% cosmology etc, and 20% AP (not a field of interest to me, but I am aware of the large number of others whose first love is astronomical photography). The rest I would like to see directed at practical topics, reviews, societies, help questions, etc - but firmly directed at the amateur observer.

Do others feel this way?

Jim.

[johnboy999]

I buy both at the moment , I feel the better quality mag with the more in depth content is astronomy now but a lot of it goes over my head as I am just a beginner. Sky at night seems to dumb down a bit but do like some of the articles and the better equipment reviews ,a perfect mag would be something between the two.

[mrphildog]

I have been reading Sky at Night magazine and as a total noob I enjoy it, I decided to subscribe and filled in the online subscription form. I received an email saying that my order was being processed and I'd get full details within 24 hours. I never did. When I emailed to ask about it the service was poor, they emailed back asking for information that was in my original message to them, they did this twice. In the end the best they could come up with was that something must have gone wrong with the process resulting in all my details being deleted. They suggested no solution.

As a result when I was out at the shops this weekend I picked up a copy of Astronomy Now and I spent Saturday afternoon thoroughly enjoying it. I think that I'll go with AN instead of S@N now, if the company managing the S@N subs had been more helpful I wouldn't have bothered finding AN but it seems they may have done me a favour (at their own expense).

[kenmyers]

Sky n Telescope is really good. It offers a different format and is a good read. I am new to this.

Astronomy now is a brilliant magazine and totally worth a subscription. Lots of up to date news and great equipment reviews.

Sky at Night is great for the included CD ROM, with great packs of free software and images, movies and galleries and info. I try to pick it up every few months for the disc and a catch up but not worth a subscription.

[JonnyP]

I have been reading Sky at Night magazine and as a total noob I enjoy it, I decided to subscribe and filled in the online subscription form. I received an email saying that my order was being processed and I'd get full details within 24 hours. I never did. When I emailed to ask about it the service was poor, they emailed back asking for information that was in my original message to them, they did this twice. In the end the best they could come up with was that something must have gone wrong with the process resulting in all my details being deleted. They suggested no solution.

I've had this problem several times over the years with different mags, most recently in Jan/Feb this year while while trying to subscribe to 'Outdoor Fitness'. I received no information from them at all until they tried taking money from my account. Of course, having received no confirmation, I didn't recognise the name of the company trying to take money so I cancelled the direct debit.

I don't understand why it sometimes becomes so hard to subscibe to a mag.

Anyway, my S@N sub was set up easily but part of the reason I subscribed was to get a red light torch as a free gift. The torch lasted about 3 months and 3 battery changes before I threw it. It must rate as the worst LED light ever produced - and being a cyclist I've had a few over the years.

[JonnyP]

Just to return to this thread, I picked up a copy of S&N a few days ago and was surprised at the price - £4.75. By magazine standards that's pretty expensive, and certainly when the competition, AN, is £3.75.

I know that S&N comes with the coverdisk, but it has generally got much less content than AN, so I'm not sure how the price can be justified. Or more to the point whether I can justify paying almost a fiver for what feels very much like a beginners mag. (And it's telling that I'm saying that only a year after buying my first scope..)

On the subject of the disk, I wonder how many buyers use it. I don;t watch the S&N episodes, having seen them when first broadcast. I flick through the pics, the best of which will have been in the mag. The only time that I spend any time using the disc is if there is 'special' content, like the extended chats, or this month's film of Apollo 16.

And finally, why do they persist in using a jewel case? A cardboard cover would surely be more environmentally friendly and take less storage space.

[Charic]

I know this is an old thread, but  I have just subscribed to The Sky at Night for only £5 for the first five copies! Are they in dire straits for sales?

[Tim]

Magazines as a whole are dying out I think?

That offer will be to entice a whole raft of new subscribers in conjunction with stargazing live?

[ronl]

I subscribed to S@N a couple of years ago, and they had the same sort

of offer then, got to admit, I still enjoy the mag, and it always arrives on time.

[teifistar]

Hi,

I've been buying both S@N and Astronomy now for a few months and I like them both. I just subscribed to S@N for £17 every six months, thats less than £3 a copy, pretty good value.

I think Tim is correct in that they are timing good offers with the broadcasting of Stargazing live.

Peter

[DaveS]

I bought both when I was getting back into the hobby, but rapidly gravitated towards AN. When I was previously into astronomy the only mag available was S&T, which I had to go into the local library to read, as it wasn't available in the local newsagents.

[Steve Ward]

Neither ...

Both pretty much cover the same ground each month ...

Both full to bursting with the same old adverts month after month , probably 70% of the content ...

Both cost far too much considering the amount of advertising they include ... 

[jonsi]

I know this is an old thread, but  I have just subscribed to The Sky at Night for only £5 for the first five copies! Are they in dire straits for sales?

Where did you find that offer?

[teifistar]

£5 for 5 issues is good but what do the rest cost for the rest of the year.

This is the offer I subscribed to.

http://www.buysubscriptions.com/science-nature-magazines/sky-at-night-magazine-subscription

Peter

[Vince1963]

I Buy both AN and S at N.. Astronomy now its the best... But that said, you can find a lot of stuff on the web if you put the time in to look for it.. I particularly  like

http://sen.com/  ( please subscribe and help support)

http://www.universetoday.com/

Two great sites

[Charic]

jonsi............Where did you find that offer?

Im sure I used the flyer from within the magazine, but same link here.https://www.buysubscriptions.com/science-nature-magazines/sky-at-night-magazine-subscription#lookInsideBox

[sharkmelley]

For those owning an iPad (not sure about the Android tablets), SaN is available in Zinio as digital magazine. The US "Astronomy" as well. I don't know about Astronomy Now, looks like they are still stuck in the paper age.

I get the paper version of Astronomy Now.  Just under the editorial is their advert for the digital version of AN on mobile phone and tablet: "Download from the App and Play Stores".  Easy to find if you Google it.

Mark

[teifistar]

I get the paper version of Astronomy Now.  Just under the editorial is their advert for the digital version of AN on mobile phone and tablet: "Download from the App and Play Stores".  Easy to find if you Google it.

Mark

Paper's good, nothing like sitting in the recliner with slippers and a pipe and a glass of scotch and a magazine.

Its a generation thing.     

[Charic]

After the initial £5 I will pay £20.95 by debit, every six issues, confirmed by letter today. I also have the right to cancel at anytime.

[Psychobilly]

I stopped buying both a few months ago...

Had a full set of SAN up until then .... The last 2 years of the mag had just  been added to the pile and hadn't even been opened....

Should have said this coincided with the closing of the village post office/shop that used to get them for me...

Peter...