Astronomy Now is a monthly British magazine on astronomy and space. It features a mix of articles ranging from how to observe the night sky to the latest discoveries in the Solar System and in deep space. The first issue of Astronomy Now was published in April 1987 by Intra Press, initially as a quarterly publication, but it soon became monthly. Today it is published by Pole Star Publications Ltd, who have been the publishers for over a decade. Its cover price as of 2010 is £3.25 at newsagents or it can be bought on subscription. ISSN 0951-9726
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The first editor of Astronomy Now was Patrick Moore, who co-founded the magazine with original publisher Angelo Zgorelec, along with Dr John Mason, Dr Peter Cattermole, Dr Ron Maddison, Iain Nicolson and Art Editor Paul Doherty. Subsequent editors have included Martin Beech, Timothy Lyster, Fiona Gammie, Steven Young, Pam Spence, Paul Parsons and Stuart Clark. The current editor is Keith Cooper and the assistant editor and website editor is Dr Emily Baldwin.
Each issue contains a host of regular sections that form the backbone of the magazine. These include:
The articles in the magazine are aimed at both amateur and armchair astronomers, as well as being of general interest to professional astronomers. Examples of articles published in the last two years include in-depth reviews of missions such as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, MESSENGER's flybys of Mercury, Planck, Herschel, the Hubble Space Telescope and more, and articles on the latest theories in cosmology, galaxy and star formation, planets and moons, plus telescopes and the latest observing technology.
As well as the five or six feature articles in each issue to go alongside the regular sections, each issue contains a 'Focus' section to provide an in-depth look at a chosen area. Recent 'Focus' topics have included the lives of stars, gas giants, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, emanations from the Sun, gamma ray astronomy and maps of the Universe .
In addition to the twelve monthly issues of Astronomy Now per year, there are also occasional special issues. A Yearbook is also released each autumn.
Written by Keith Cooper, this is a 100-page journey from our planet Earth, past the other planets of the Solar System and out into deep space, to the farthest depths of the Universe. Lavishly illustrated with full-colour images from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, the Mars rovers, Cassini, the Voyager spcacraft and many other space missions, this is an introduction to our Universe, with detailed information on each planet, moon, star, nebulae and galaxy presented within. The Grand Tour was released in autumn 2006.
A collection of pictures of the night sky and guide to the art of astrophotography by Nik Szymanek released in summer 2005, for those who want to follow in Nik's footsteps as an astrophotgrapher to those that simply want to admire Nik's graceful images of galaxies, nebulae, the Moon and the various exotic locations and mountain-top observatories.
Written by Neil English to coincide with the successful landing on the red planet by the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity in 2004, and including their first pictures, this pictoral history of man's robotic exploration portrays Mars in all its dusty red glory.
The 3-D Universe features over 155 remarkable 3-D images of the Universe, many created from scratch by technical Illustrator Greg Smye–Rumsby, and with commentary from Kulvinder Singh Chadha, each copy comes with a pair of 3-D glasses.
Edited by the editor of Astronomy Now, and written by many of the magazine's regular contributors, the 132-page Yearbooks are released annually. They include a full observing guide for the full year ahead, plus a mix of interviews and articles on various aspects of astronomy.
AstroFest is an annual exhibition and conference celebrating astronomy and space exploration, held by Astronomy Now magazine at Kensington Conference and Events Centre in west London. It is a two-day event, taking place over a Friday and a Saturday usually in the first half of February. A trade show consisting of dozens of exhibitors and telescope dealers covers three floors of the town hall. Visitors can meet the Astronomy Now editors and contributors and discuss the magazine with them.
The accompanying conference programme, organized by Ian Ridpath and chaired jointly by him and Iain Nicolson, presents top speakers from the UK and overseas. Past speakers have included Ted Bowell, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Carol Christian, Alberto Conti, Brian Cox, Monica Grady, David A. Hardy, David Hughes, Mat Irvine, Helen Keen, Rob Kennicutt, Jim Al-Khalili, Ed Krupp, David Levy, Keith Mason, Brian May, Fulvio Melia, Simon Mitton, Stephen O’Meara, Martin Rees, Chris Riley, Seth Shostak, David Southwood, Jill Tarter, and John Zarnecki. Allan Chapman is a regular speaker. The 2009 AstroFest saw the return of Sir Patrick Moore to relive his memories of Apollo 11 forty years on, and in 2010 he appeared with Brian May.
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