March Sky at Night magazine

[x6gas]

Just want to say how much I enjoyed the March edition of Sky at Night magazine.

I'd been losing faith with the magazine of late and have been two-timing with Astronomy Now but this issue has restored my faith. Some good features, was really interested to see the first part of Steve Richard's series on side-by-side imaging rigs (particularly since that's where I hope to go next) and enjoyed the review of the WO GTF-81 which is that rarest of things in an astronomy magazine - a rather negative review!

[Pete Presland]

Just want to say how much I enjoyed the March edition of Sky at Night magazine.

I'd been losing faith with the magazine of late and have been two-timing with Astronomy Now .

you cant just cheat on somebody and expect all to be forgiven seriously though i gave up on the sky at night mag in favour of astronomy now a while back, it is a better and more informative read in my opinion

[Mark at Beaufort]

I just bought the March edition because it was full of so much information. Really impressed with the quality this month - so well done.

Mark

[kirkster501]

Anything by Steve and I am all ears (eyes).

Sometimes S@N magazine is frankly rubbish. Sometimes it is fantastic. As a result if the delta between the two I have not got a subscription.

[Tomjo59]

It's right what you say about equipment reviews in astronomy mags. For anybody interested, Martin Mobberley has some trenchant comments on this (useful also for anybody about to buy a telescope):

http://martinmobberley.co.uk/equipment.html

[DaveS]

I'd given up on S @ N as well for AN, but I'll look out the March issue if it's still in Smiths

[Scosmico]

I agree. The March edition is truly for Amateur Astronomers. Spot on!

Concentrated on stargazing and lots of interesting subjects as side dishes.

Great!

After the talk in the lounge about stargazing in Astronomy, I think the march edition is one of the best in many months.

[Stargazer_00]

Do the easy thing. Subscribe to both. I do

[M4lcs67]

I am a subscriber and I do look forward to getting it every month. They are changing things around a little, but I think it for the good.

[Girard86]

Collected my March issue today. Have to say it looks like there's some good bed time reading. The Behind the scenes diary looks like a good feature and its nice to see the show also continues to carry on after the sad news. Lets keep both the show and magazine alive.

[JonnyP]

Just want to say how much I enjoyed the March edition of Sky at Night magazine.

I'd been losing faith with the magazine of late and have been two-timing with Astronomy Now but this issue has restored my faith. Some good features, was really interested to see the first part of Steve Richard's series on side-by-side imaging rigs (particularly since that's where I hope to go next) and enjoyed the review of the WO GTF-81 which is that rarest of things in an astronomy magazine - a rather negative review!

Well I must admit that I've been losing patience with S@N as well, and a flick through the March issue in the shop didn't entice me to buy it. It feels far too lightweight to be honest. Lots of filler and far too little actual content. (eg how many photo sections do you need in a thin magazine?) This month there doesn't seem to be anything aimed at me. I don't need another AP article as I don't do AP. I don't need yet another list of 'spring galaxies', I've got several of those. None of the products reviewed interest me. And so on.

This might be sacrilege, but last month's tribute to Patrick Moore really annoyed me. We all know how great he was, how much he influenced amateur stargazers, so why did they think the mag needed 7 or 8 pages of 'tributes' from people all saying the same - 'he's great and will be missed'. A single well written article was all that was necessary. For me it's that sort of laziness that sums up S@N.

Out of the 3 magazines I can pick up, S@N is the most expensive, the most variable in quality and the quickest read. Astronomy Now is by far my favourite but I've recently got a digital subscription to Sky and Telescope for $30. Under £20 for 12 issues! With the quality of the articles and the price it makes S@N feel a little like a rip-off.