Sky and Telescope - January 2016 - 4

Peter Tyson
Spectrum
Founded in 1941
by Charles A. Federer, Jr.
and Helen Spence Federer

75 Years Young
This year marks the 75th that Sky & Telescope has been in continuous publication. Our ﬁrst issue appeared in November of 1941, so
we have a few months to go before our actual anniversary. But in a news
publication, you have a get a jump on things or you might miss out.
So I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate and thank Charles
Federer, Jr. and his wife Helen Spence Federer for launching this magazine and then shepherding it so expertly for 33 years. What Charlie wrote
in the inaugural issue came true: "It is expected that Sky and Telescope
will endure for many years to come, and play an important part in the
development of the layman's interest in astronomy."
We in the S&T family would like to reiterate Charlie's statement regarding the next 75 years (though we might change "layman" to "layperson").
I believe we are well positioned to follow through on that declaration,
in part because S&T is like a family. Three editors that Charlie himself
hired before his retirement in 1974 are still intimately associated with the magazine: Senior Editor
Kelly Beatty (who edited our 2017 eclipse features
in this issue, pages 22 and 29) and former Senior
Editor Dennis di Cicco (who coproduced our
annual Hot Products feature, page 32, and continues to write regular S&T Test Reports), both joined
the staﬀ in 1974. Senior Contributing Editor Roger
Sinnott began three years before them, in 1971.
So, in a sense, we are only in the second generation of S&T editors - after three-quarters of a
century. And those three long-time editors are only
part of a very dedicated cadre of staﬀ and contributing editors and designers, many of whom have also
Vol. 1, No. 1 of S&T
been in the S&T family for decades.
One of the things we're planning for our dodranscentennial (yes, that's
the word for it) is a redesign of the magazine. Mostly this will be a freshening up of the look and feel, but we're also contemplating editorial changes.
In light of this, I'd like to ask you, our readers, the people for whom
we publish this magazine, to send me your ideas of what you'd like to see
us ﬁnesse or even entirely overhaul in Sky & Telescope. What's missing?
What feels oﬀ base? What would you like to see more of? Less of?
I won't be able to respond to every suggestion, but you can be sure I'll
read and consider them all. My email is ptyson@skyandtelescope.com.
Together with results from a recent reader survey that many of you
completed (thank you), your comments will help us do a better job of giving you what you want and need to enhance your pursuit of our hobby in
the years to come. ✦

The Essential Guide
to Astronomy
EDITORIAL

Editor in Chief Peter Tyson
Senior Editors J. Kelly Beatty, Alan M. MacRobert
Equipment Editor Sean Walker
Science Editor Camille M. Carlisle
Web Editor Monica Young
Observing Editor Susan N. Johnson-Roehr
Senior Contributing Editors Robert Naeye, Roger W. Sinnott
Contributing Editors Howard Banich, Jim Bell, Trudy Bell, John E. Bortle,
Greg Bryant, Thomas A. Dobbins, Alan Dyer, Tom Field, Tony Flanders,
Ted Forte, Sue French, Steve Gottlieb, David Grinspoon, Ken HewittWhite, Johnny Horne, Bob King, Emily Lakdawalla, Jerry Lodriguss, Rod
Mollise, Donald W. Olson, Joe Rao, Dean Regas, Fred Schaaf, Govert
Schilling, Gary Seronik, William Sheehan, Mike Simmons, Alan Whitman,
Charles A. Wood, Robert Zimmerman
Contributing Photographers P. K. Chen, Akira Fujii, Robert Gendler,
Babak Tafreshi
ART & DESIGN

Design Director Patricia Gillis-Coppola
Illustration Director Gregg Dinderman
Illustrator Leah Tiscione
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Editor in
Edi
i Chi
Chieff
4

Januar y 2016 sky & telescope

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Sky and Telescope - January 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky and Telescope - January 2016