Thanks to all of you for the supportive comments re. Magellan's Ghost. I am relieved that you liked the crossover approach bridging our knowledgeable hobbyist's astro-enthusiasm and the heavy-duty ponderousness of the professional reports. Professional literature in any study is laden with jargon and language which are OK for PhD types, but like swimming in glue for you and me.
I am OK with that kind of stuff, but I know most astro-observers are not. So as a service to the hobby we love, I am starting a new online-only journal called Sky Candy which summarizes multiple professional papers on a specific topic, then boils down the results without all the maths and jargon.
And, like a box of chocolates, it has to look nice, too. That's not exactly what you get in the professional literature.
Magellan's Ghost was just the beginning. I have 26 other articles in the slush pile and will bring them out about one a week. Web links to the original source articles are embedded throughout every article in case you want to dip into the maths and jargon. All the Sky Candy articles are free to download and print at your local print-on-demand shop if you wish. There will be no ads. Here are the first three:
Sky Candy inaugural issue #1:
https://issuu.com/douglasbullis/docs...1_72_dpi_22_mb
Sky Candy #2: Chasing Magellan's Ghost:
https://issuu.com/douglasbullis/docs...st_150dpi_14mb
Sky Candy #3: Riding with the Valkyries, an observer's guide to spotting 45 O-Class runaway stars. This is the first observer's guide to this curiosity of the skies, and an ideal way to give young enthusiasts a challenge list that requires only binoculars and good online star charts.
https://issuu.com/douglasbullis/docs...r_s_guide_150d
Next week: All about barred galaxies.
Since Sky Candy is a work-in-progress, I welcome any helpful suggestions how to make it better. I also welcome contributions from anyone who wants to explore deeper into astronomical subjects. I would like to keep the focus on astronomical topics only, as there are plenty of other outlets for equipment discussions.
Doug Bullis in S Africa
