Astro Magazines?

[Kit-Fox]

So its coming up to christmas and i'm wordering if its worth getting a years subscription to an astro magazine for a year.

My question is do pepole have any recommendations for which ones to avoid, which ones are great?

Any advice?

[LukeSkywatcher]

For me personally,the only mag worth buying is the "Sky At Night".

Sir Patrick Moore is a living legend and his monthly article is worth its weight in gold.

You also have imaging tutorials from SGL members such as Pete Lawrence and sketching tutorials from Carol (Talitha).

Forget the adverts..............read the tutorials.

[kris h]

The Sky At Night is a great astro mag just ask your local post office to get you one every month

[Nexus 6]

You also get the free cd!

Alan

[GazOC]

I get S@N and Astronomy Now magazines. I probably get more value out of AN.

[garethmob]

i posted a thread similar to this not long ago

i decided on S@N and astronomy now atm astronomy now seems to have more reviews and infomation but as lukeskywatcher said moores section is fantastic

http://stargazerslounge.com/astro-lounge/120286-best-astronomy-mag.html

[John]

If I ever buy one (usually to read on a long train journey) it's Astronomy Now or Sky & Telescope. I bought one or two editions of Sky & Night but found the equipment reviews rather superficial and with unconvincing conclusions

I've got the 1st few years of AN complete - Sir Patrick Moore was Editor-in-Chief of that publication back then

[JamesM]

There are savings to be had by having a year's subscription but like John, I only buy the occasional one if after having a quick flick through and finding something of interest. To be honest I find the quality of information patchy and when it comes to reviews, I prefer to read users reviews and recommendations on this forum or on Cloudy Nights to get a true picture of performance.

James

[Kit-Fox]

Well I am something of a newbie when it comes to astro matter, but i'm also quite the computer geek so usually have no trouble in following technical details.

I'm really looking for something i can put in my bag to carry around with me to read when i've got a spare 15mins or so.

Thanks btw for all the replies so far guys, helpful as ever

[bcfcciderhead]

I started to buy S@N (last 4 issues) i really like it, i find the "months spotting guide" great, also bought this months issue of Sky & Telescope wish i think is almost the same, still a good read tho, but if i was to get a subscription it would be S@N.

These are the only two i have seen, are they any more about?

[brantuk]

I like both SaN and AN and get one or the other each month. SaN is a lighter read, easy going with regular beginners stuff, and reviews which are sometimes usefull. AN definitely delves deeper and and has more technical content. Both have a great monthly guide to the sky. AN's a tad cheaper (no coverdisk) so could be deemed better vfm. But both are good in their own respective way

[oldfruit]

I like the Sky at Night and Astronomy Now magazines. They both have interesting articles which are not too techical and easy to understand as well as some more in depth articles for the more advanced astronomers. They provide targets to look at through both small and large telescopes.

[glowjet]

Sky at Night, had a subscription for years.

[Robert Watson]

This is my 3rd year getting s@n can't fault it great mag. And now their putting the monthly sky chart on the disc so it can be printed of on your computer saving the mag from having the page pulled out.

[ollypenrice]

As an occasional contributer to Astronomy Now I am biased, in all probablity, but I like the way it is prepared to be a little more demanding of its readers. It has been around for a very long time and organises or sponsors the excellent London Astrofest. The truth is, the balance is hard for all magazines. Sky and Telescope has really nose dived, though, which is a great shame.

Olly

[russ]

As an occasional contributer to Astronomy Now I am biased, in all probablity, but I like the way it is prepared to be a little more demanding of its readers. It has been around for a very long time and organises or sponsors the excellent London Astrofest. The truth is, the balance is hard for all magazines. Sky and Telescope has really nose dived, though, which is a great shame.

Olly

It is a shame about S&T, seems to have taken the same nose dive Astronomy did 10 years ago. But Astronomy is picking up again now.

I've been buying Astronomy Now since issue 1. But don't mind S@N either. AN nosed dived itself for a while but i think is currently the strongest of the mags for the moment.

[Kit-Fox]

Thought I'd let you all know what I had decided on.

I'm gonna give S@N a try this year and see how it goes. Its only for one year & I still have a lot to learn so the newbie approach wont hurt.

If I find I outgrow it, I can choose another next year.

Thanks guys for all the advice & comments

[Psychobilly]

I find I am buying the mags SAN in particular just to keep the set going having managed to buy a complete set not long after I started this marlarkey...

Of late it tends to go straight into the storage box un-opened and cant say I have even taken a CD out of the case unless its to help soemone out who is missing one...

AN gets a quick flick through before heading for its storage box...

Billy...

[RichardJBartlett]

I used to write for Astronomy but I've always preferred Sky & Telescope - I just didn't tell them that LOL

Over here in the US we get both Astronomy Now and Sky At Night but belatedly. I used to read AN when I lived in England but I prefer Sky At Night; I like reading about ol' Blighty but I love the CD because you get the Sky At Night shows on it. You can't get 'em any other way over here. I can't even watch video clips on the Beeb website because they don't allow you to stream copyrighted programme clips from outside the UK

[Talitha]

... I love the CD because you get the Sky At Night shows on it. You can't get 'em any other way over here.

It's quite disappointing, isn't it?

Sure would be nice to see the current show.

[Doug]

Hi

I recommend sky at Night just like Paul, I got a two year subscription and we have our own celebrity Carol Lakomiak (Talitha) that has a page on Sketching that I like very much, plus the DVD With Sir Patrick Moore and Chris Lintott

I also get Astronomy Now as Nik Szymanek does Astrophotography-Ace imager

Clear skies

Doug

Essex

[RichardJBartlett]

That's very cool! I'm impressed

[peteuplink]

Sky at Night is the one I buy. It's a good read and like others have mention it has Sir Patrick Moore's monthly article, which is always good.

It was also through their reviews that I decided on my current scope, and it's not done me wrong so far.

[George Jones]

I like Astronomy Magazine best, and I like Sky and Telescope as well. I would like to get to know Astronomy Now and Sky at Night better, but they are very expensive here in Canada, and my wife is already on my case about how much money I spend on magazines (astronomy related and others).

[steppenwolf]

Difficult for me to comment without bias as I write for S @ N but I generally find that the two magazine compliment one another - I subscribe to both and find articles of interest in both each month. Luckily, the magazines are different from one another otherwise, what would be the point!