Astronomy Magazines-which one do you prefer?

[OneOfOne (Trevor)]

Other than Astronomy, I subscribe to all the others...although I have had some problems getting my issues of S&T...I got the last one!

[Gargoyle_Steve (Steve)]

I subscribe to Aust Sky & Tel and enjoy reading it every (second) month.
Often, but not always, I will also buy Sky & Space (Aus) mag.
For content on our viewing conditions, etc, you can't beat an Ausie mag!!


Recently though I have also been buying the BBC publication Sky at Night - which seems to now include a Southern hemisphere star chart (June issue has July chart for southern skies) and I am enjoying the content of the attached cover CD.

I have also purchased a recent issue of another UK mag, Astronomy Now, and I enjoyed that one too, were I able to afford it I'd be buing all 4 of these each month.

(I also get the Australian science magazine Cosmos - it has simply lots of general science stuff, but seems to include fair amounts of astro related science too. Great article presently on dark matter / dark energy.)

I have not seen or read an issue of either Astronomy, or the US version fo Sky & Tel to comment on them.

[Solanum]

Originally Posted by Gargoyle_Steve

I have also purchased a recent issue of another UK mag, Astronomy Now, and I enjoyed that one too, were I able to afford it I'd be buing all 4 of these each month.

I was going to mention Astronomy Now, when I was living in the UK I got that for several years. It was the best and most UK oriented mag at that time (the BBC one not existing then).

I'd get it now, but I only get one per month or so and I prefer something with local info. Astronomy Now used to have a column by David Malin on Southern Skies, dunno whether it still does. At the time it made me jealous about what could be seen down here.

[Satchmo]

Originally Posted by Dave47tuc

You missed Dave Eichers Deep Sky mag.
Ooops been out of print for some time. Yes some folk can not move on.

There was one other Australian mag which was the best ever.
But died of much to mine and others dissapointment.

Ah yes I treasure my set of Deep Sky Mag.

Southern Sky ( ?) was world class in its brief life. It was a tragic story of its demise ( again competition with another long standing aussie magazine involved ) .

[acropolite (Phil)]

I have a subscription to AS&T, I also usually buy S&S from the newstand. Although I prefer AS&T, I find the content of both good, but would like to see more technical (how it's done) type material. I would like to be able to buy US S&T but it's unavailable here. I also buy Astronomy mag from time to time.

[DJDD]

Hi All!

Thanks for everyone's input.

The results are:

Australian Sky and Space = 48.94%
Australian Sky and Telescope = 89.36%
Astronomy = 21.28%
Sky and Telescope = 21.28%

As you can see the Australian magazines are preferred over the American offerings, although these still attract a large audience (based on my small sample set).

I am also glad that this did not degenerate into a "mud-slinging" thread, however, if I were an Australian Sky and Space editor I would be interested in finding out why his/her publication is less popular than the other Australian publication.

I think I can now subscribe with confidence.

cheers,
DJDD

[Neilzstar]

Results add up to about 162% . This can only be because people can vote for more than one. So, is result conclusive? I voted for one only although I take both. Neilzstar.

[DJDD]

Originally Posted by Neilzstar

Results add up to about 162% . This can only be because people can vote for more than one. So, is result conclusive? I voted for one only although I take both. Neilzstar.

you are correct- it is not conclusive, although if we assume (and we all know the saying about that) that most people voted for more than one, if applicable, then the result still stands as a somewhat representative cross-section. Also, most comments in this thread seemed to have a preference for AS&T, with purchase of AS&S being more often an ad-hoc purchase.

I am not a statistician but I am going to run with it.

cheers,
DJDD

[Stevo69]

I don't subscribe to any, because not all issues are full of articles I'm interested in. For example, stories about cosmology, Big Bang, and other articles relating to physics and pure science, don't really interest me that much. I like more stories about actual amateur astronomy such as deep sky objects, articles highlighting a specific constellation etc...

hoo roo,

Steve

[astroron (Ron)]

Originally Posted by Satchmo

Ah yes I treasure my set of Deep Sky Mag.

Southern Sky ( ?) was world class in its brief life. It was a tragic story of its demise ( again competition with another long standing aussie magazine involved ) .

I sold my Deep Sky Mags when in a spot of financial bother, much to my regret but I still have all my issues of Southern Sky

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Originally Posted by DJDD

you are correct- it is not conclusive, although if we assume (and we all know the saying about that) that most people voted for more than one, if applicable, then the result still stands as a somewhat representative cross-section. Also, most comments in this thread seemed to have a preference for AS&T, with purchase of AS&S being more often an ad-hoc purchase.

I am not a statistician but I am going to run with it.

cheers,
DJDD

Actually, it's not even close to being conclusive.

There were only 49 people replying to the poll. Not much of a cross-section.
If I was Editor of either mag I wouldn't pay any attention to the figures, as they are not indicative of anything.

[DJDD]

Originally Posted by ballaratdragons

Actually, it's not even close to being conclusive.

anyway, not wanting to get into too much of an argument- the poll and thread was posted so that I could gather information so as to spend my money wisely and I value all comments from IIS members

and I will repeat...
I am not a statistician but I am going to run with it .

There were only 49 people replying to the poll. Not much of a cross-section.
If I was Editor of either mag I wouldn't pay any attention to the figures, as they are not indicative of anything.

actually, i think an editor/publisher would want to know why people were not buying my product regardless of whether the poll was representative or not and then compare that to any of the company's own surveys, if any.

cheers,
adrian

[cydonia]

I noticed that Meade did not advertise in the last issue of AS&T which leads me to think that Australia might only have one Aussie mag in the future.

This would be bad for us, but not at all surprising

[h0ughy (David)]

Originally Posted by cydonia

I noticed that Meade did not advertise in the last issue of AS&T which leads me to think that Australia might only have one Aussie mag in the future.

This would be bad for us, but not at all surprising

this is painful. I have IN front of me at the moment the sky at night, reading it I have only , only ,only !!, come across 1 solitary single lonesome advert in this magazine with Meade all over it.
Are they going to die and wither away - probably not. Maybe Meade is conserving its advertising dollars??? Who knows? They have spent squillions for next to no return then they have pulled up stumps to regroup and redraw the battle lines. With the advent of the EQ5pro and eq6 pro and people choosing their OTA's and being that much more discerning Meade might be looking to re-corner the marketing at a later date. Why even the light bucket bridage with all the GSO's scopes are getting more advertising dollars at the moment.

Gone are the good old days of Meade and celestron fighting it out for the inside cover pages or the back cover. Ahhh the arguments, the talk of mines better than yours. I suppose you might own a celestron???

As for the Aussie mag situation - for the moment the two will live on, as we keep buying them and thats a good thing. cant read an on line article all the time

[Neilzstar]

Those that know me see a fairly measured approach, (from my professional engineering career?), and a fairly laid back attitude in retirement. I dislike things that are misleading. So, where in the thread ngcles refers to is there any real discussion of Meade? I don't ask such commercial information to be revealed. Nor should there be, because that relationship is a commercial and confidential. There really has been no discussion of Meade. I am still going to wait, as said in the other thread, for the next issue of S&T, to which I subscribe chiefly out of my great respect for Greg Bryant, the now editor.
Regards to All Neilzstar

[Stevo69]

With all respect to the "professionals" who have jumped in on this topic (and to everyone else I guess), DDJD just asked a simple, honest question. Which one should he/she subscribe to. That's all.

My advise to DDJD, do like I do. If you cannot decide, and on a limited budget, browse through the individual magazines at you local newsagent, an pick the issue/s which are worth the money for that month.

[iceman (Mike)]

I'd like for this thread not to head down the same path as the other one, which has thankfully gone dormant before it needed to be closed.
Let's not raise the same issues again, please.

[DJDD]

thanks, Stevo69, for your reply. I did not expect the thread to head down the direction it has.

iceman, feel free to close the thread and the poll.

thanks, also, to everyone who replied. All of the comments were interesting to read and provided me (and perhaps others) with some useful information.

cheers,
DJDD

[Neilzstar]

Thank You to ngcles for acknowledging my post. At last I think that we may all be about to relax. I am doing just that. Cheers, Neilzstar

[KG8]

I can see the attraction a hard copy would have for some people but I don't bother myself because I feel that everything in them is on the web and in a lot more detail. I'll spend the money I save on EP's