I recently cashed in an Xmas present (thanks, Mom...) of a gift card to the local book emporium, and decided to stock up on reading material. The thought had crossed my mind of subscribing to an astro-mag, so I picked up Sky&Telescope, and Astronomy, and Astronomy Now (from Jolly Olde), and SkyNews (it's a Maple Leaf rag...ooooooh, that was bad... #-o ). Maybe a quick review and comparison would tell me which one to shell out the shekels for...
I was still perusing, when something in Sky&Telescope caught my eye. They're going to put out a new bimonthly mag called 'nightsky' specifically for beginners; "...those who possess very little astronomy knowledge but still want to enjoy and explore the heavens..."
Well, I sez, sezzi, I gots to check this one out, seeing as I'm still green enough that you can't tell where the grass stops and I start, but to do that you need to use a white light and people will b!tch 'cause you've destroyed their night vision...but I digress...

So I went to their website to check things out here and did a little link surfing. While going thru the pr flackery, one line caught my eye: "...And Phil Plait — astronomer, teacher, lecturer, all-around science junkie, and webmaster of the popular Bad Astronomy Web site — has been tapped to pen a regular column called Straight Talk, a mix of debunking misconceptions and explaining astronomical phenomena..."

???!!!

Our own beloved BA, the self-described HRMWOTAS, is now going to be the new Mickey Spillane of the heavens! Granted, it's on a bimonthly basis, but they do give Pulitzer Prizes for magazine work (don't they?)!

Anyway, there's a deal for new subscribers (details on the website)...beyond that I will not say lest I or this site be accused of pandering to the commercial interests. Suffice it that I ran across this offer in S&T, and was interested long before I learned that Our Esteemed Host had hit the public prints on a national level.

I'm seriously considering getting in on this deal. After all, even the geekish among us sometimes like to take the tour with just a simple guidebook in hand, instead of the entire technical manual...and besides, I just like to read.

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"If a tree is cut down in the rainforest, and is used to make paper to print a book, and the book is really bad, and there's nobody that will read it, do you still hear a sucking sound?"
Charlie in Dayton, A.AsC.

I'd seen the ad in the February Sky & Telescope and was mildly interested, but since I subscribe to both S&T and Astronomy I
wasn't seriously planning on a commitment to another periodical. Now that I know there's going the be a column by the BA, though.....I may have to rethink.

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If you can't dazzle 'em with dexterity, baffle 'em with BS.

Mr. BA, How could YOU not point this out first? You are too modest!

runs away and hides

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"Astronomy is not merely a hobby or a study, but a way of truly seeing and understanding the vast and magificent universe in which, by some extraordinary event, we exist."

Out of curiosity, BA, is there enough stuff out there that you won't run out of subject material after a year or two? Or have I completely missed the target on that one?

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"If a tree is cut down in the rainforest, and is used to make paper to print a book, and the book is really bad, and there's nobody that will read it, do you still hear a sucking sound?"
Charlie in Dayton, A.AsC.

Well, Charlie seems to have opened the bag.

OK, yes, I confess: I have a regular column in the new magazine Night Sky. It's a mag for people who are real beginners at astronomy. It sounds like there is a market for this.

The column, called "Straight Talk", is just me rambling a bit about different topics. There will be some misconception correcting, but also just cool stuff I like, as in my Bitesize Astronomy section. The articles are fairly short, about one page with a diagram or two.

I was going to wait a little while before mentioning it, because I wanted to put a page together for it.

What you don't know is that in May, when the magazine comes out, I will also have a full-length feature article in Sky and Telescope. 8) That one is more in line with the theme of this website.

Hiding your talents from us is like trying to hide chocolate-chip cookies from a five-year-old...ain't gonna happen... [-(

Didn't mean to spoil the surprise -- I was just playing the role of savvy shopper doing some research before whipping out that overheated credit card (again...)...

I still say 3 CHEERS FOR THE BA for his efforts here and in print in the battle against...[insert ooky spooky music here]...(wait for it)...

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"If a tree is cut down in the rainforest, and is used to make paper to print a book, and the book is really bad, and there's nobody that will read it, do you still hear a sucking sound?"
Charlie in Dayton, A.AsC.

Cheers, Cheers, Cheers! 8) =D>

That’s great. Wish I had a beginners mag. when I was young.

Good luck BA!

Be sure to leave us out so you don’t scare them off! :-$

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Lighten up! This is a stellar board!

George, you raise a rather unusual yet oddly very accurate point...there's a message in there somewhere... :-k

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"If a tree is cut down in the rainforest, and is used to make paper to print a book, and the book is really bad, and there's nobody that will read it, do you still hear a sucking sound?"
Charlie in Dayton, A.AsC.

Shucks, I was mainly refering to you and me as leading "Cornologists". Science demands the straight and narrow. You and I alone could easily derail their whole study vector. However, some boards have filters so there may be some hope for them.

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Lighten up! This is a stellar board!

Well, me being straight but rather rotund leaves...naah, you're right, let's not go there...

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"If a tree is cut down in the rainforest, and is used to make paper to print a book, and the book is really bad, and there's nobody that will read it, do you still hear a sucking sound?"
Charlie in Dayton, A.AsC.

There are times this board is not only filtered, but mentholated.

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If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers.

It's certainly addictive and will keep you awake nights!

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Lighten up! This is a stellar board!

What exactly is the target age for this magazine? Would it appeal to most 10 or 11 year olds? I ask this because I'm going to be a teacher soon, and Sky and Telescope is a little too advanced for kids that age.

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One nuclear bomb could wreck your whole day.

I am not sure about the age range, but I think it's for adults who are beginners. I haven't seen an issue yet! The only thing I've read was a brilliant Moon Illusion article. 8)

I think the magazine comes out in May with the first issue. It's probably too late to use in a school then anyway, so I suggest grabbing that issue and seeing what you think. If it works, you could use it during the next school year.

Astronomy is not as advanced as S&T.

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Any day you wake up on "the right side of the dirt" is a good day.

T. Anderson

My fiancee is in the same position as you. I will ask her if she knows of any space or science magazines you might be able to use (i am guessing thats what you want.) .

He already has the solution to that: "a pack of weirdos"!

A good science magazine for kids in that range is Muse. I wrote a few things for them a couple of years ago. Here's the website for a bunch of magazines from them. It's affiliated with the Smithsonian.

When I worked at Sky as editor of SkyWatch (the yearly magazine they put out), we did have a lot of discussions about a more frequent product for adults (and teenagers) who wanted to learn the ropes... Skywatch tried to serve that market, but it was really difficult to assess the market and give the magazine "newsstand appeal."

I think this new magazine will be an interesting experiment and I hope it goes well for them! How can it go wrong with our own Mad Doctor in it?



By the way, they wrote up a mention of my blog in the March issue of S&T. I was completely surprised to see it in there!

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Starry, starry night...

My site TheSpacewriter.com
and my blog: TheSpaceWriter's Ramblings

I am looking forward to the new article. I am hoping it will help my daughter out(who just recently received my old etx 90). I wish something like that would have been available when I started out. Is it suppossed to coincide with astronomy day?(APril 24th???)

Congrats B.A., look forward to the article in S&T.

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We've got a five dollar fine, for whining: Chris Ledoux