BBC Sky at Night magazine is a British

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 month

Month

A month is a unit of time, used with calendars, which was first used and invented in Mesopotamia, as a natural period related to the motion of the Moon; month and Moon are cognates. The traditional concept arose with the cycle of moon phases; such months are synodic months and last approximately...

ly magazine

Magazine

Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...

 about astronomy

Astronomy

Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...

 aimed at amateur astronomer

Astronomer

An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...

s and published by BBC Magazines Bristol. The title of the periodical derives for the likenamed Television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 program produced by the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

, The Sky at Night

The Sky at Night

The Sky at Night is a monthly documentary television programme on astronomy produced by the BBC. The show has had the same permanent presenter, Sir Patrick Moore, from its first airing on 24 April 1957, making it the longest-running programme with the same presenter in television history.The...

. The magazine, in comparison with the TV series, includes more technical and scientific information. It also includes a bonus CD-ROM

CD-ROM

A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....

 with software programs, latest astronomical photograph

Photograph

A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...

s, written materials and in some issues, a 'classic' episode of The Sky at Night from the BBC archives.

About BBC Sky at Night

• Launched: 2005
• Frequency: 12 issues / year
• Price: £4.50
• Editor: Graham Southorn
• Publisher: Andrew Davies

A brief history

• BBC Sky at Night was first launched in June 1965. The first issue, which featured Patrick Moore on the cover and included a copy of Patrick's Moon map as a free gift, sold out and back issues are no longer available. Copies of Issue 1 have since sold for over £100 on eBay.
• In April 2007, the magazine celebrated the 50th anniversary of The Sky at Night
  The Sky at Night
  The Sky at Night is a monthly documentary television programme on astronomy produced by the BBC. The show has had the same permanent presenter, Sir Patrick Moore, from its first airing on 24 April 1957, making it the longest-running programme with the same presenter in television history.The...
  
  on BBC TV with a specially-themed issue, which was produced in two different covers.

Regular content

• Coverdisc - free monthly CD-ROM with additional content and freeware astronomical software.
• The sky in [month] - 12-page monthly pull-out stargazing guide written by British astrophotographer Pete Lawrence, with breakdowns of what can be seen with the naked eye, through binoculars, and with small and large telescopes in the coming month. (Can be read with a red light torch).
• The Universe according to Patrick Moore - editorial from the Editor Emeritus.
• Editor's letter - editorial.
• Eye on the Sky (new views on space) - new photographs from professional telescopes such as Hubble, Spitzer and Chandra.
• News - news and announcements regarding astronomy.
• Inbox - emails from readers (with a prize for the best).
• Hotshots - astronomical photographs sent in by readers (with a prize for the best).
• Fame File - biography of a significant historical astronomer.
• Beginners' Guide - a monthly 'lesson' for beginners in astronomy from Anton Vamplew.
• How To - tips and 'secrets' or how to build a piece of equipment for yourself.
• Competition
• On location - site of special astronomical interest.
• Astro Answers - experts' answers to readers' questions on stars, planets, cosmology, observing, imaging and equipment.
• Reviews - on all types of equipment to do with astronomy and sky observation, and a group-test of several brands of the same type of commonly used equipment.
• What's On - list the best of British observing and astronomy events broken down by region.
• Books - more reviews, this time of newly released books (and sometimes software/DVDs
• Night Life - interview with professional astronomers, astronauts and celebrity astronomers

Plus lots of feature articles on the newest discoveries and theories in astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology.

Editorial advisors

Patrick Moore and Chris Lintott are editorial advisors, serving as Editor Emeritus and Contributing Editor respectively.

External links

• BBC Sky at Night magazine
• BBC Sky at Night magazine forum
• BBC Magazines Bristol
• The Sky at Night TV programme homepage