There was a time, long ago, when the publishers of Astronomy brought you two smaller quarterly magazines as well: Deep Sky and Telescope Making. These sister publications were extremely popular with amateur astronomers in the boom days of the Dobsonian revolution, when large telescopes were first available to amateurs and an explosion of knowledge about what could be seen in the sky was first happening.
I started Deep Sky as a monthly publication when I was a sophomore in high school in Ohio. In 1982 I joined the Astronomy staff and brought my magazine with me. We published it as a quarterly for 10 years. For some years, copies of Deep Sky have been collectors’ items at star parties and swap meets, as the many articles written by dozens of amateur observers contain still-valuable information about countless clusters, nebulae, and galaxies.
Former Astronomy Editor Richard Berry started Telescope Making magazine in 1978 during the white-hot days of the Dobsonian revolution. That was when building your own telescope was the way to get a really large-aperture scope.
Now, thanks to the hard work and coordination of Online Editor Matt Quandt and others, issues of Deep Sky and Telescope Making magazines will be available again — this time electronically, as downloadable PDFs. Right now the first 10 of 37 Deep Sky quarterly issues are available in our online catalog. The first nine editions of Telescope Making are now available as well. Soon, all the issues of both magazines will be available.
Articles in the first 10 editions of Deep Sky still offer an amazing amount of value for observers. There are stories on galaxy hunting in Ursa Major, the Local Group of galaxies, Orion’s best deep-sky objects, supernova searches, the best and most challenging planetary nebulae, low-surface-brightness challenge objects, globular clusters in Ophiuchus, and many more subjects.
The authors are a who’s-who of deep-sky observers of the era. They include Jim Barclay, Glenn Chaple, Steve Coe, Jeff Corder, Alan Goldstein, Phil Harrington, David Healy, Paul Hodge, David H. Levy, Jim Meketa, and Brian Skiff.
Early issues of TM are also packed with unique information. There are articles on small reflectors, constructing a Schiefspiegeler, lots on Dobsonians, reports from Riverside and Stellafane, lens-making, observatory construction, and much more. The authors form an impressive bunch: Richard Buchroeder, Bob Cox, Russ Genet, Walter Hamler, Kevin Ritschel, A. L. Woods, and Ernest B. Wright, to name a few.
Check out the online listing of issues and articles for Deep Sky and Telescope Making, and I’ll bet you’ll find something that would be nice to add to your astronomy library. And stay tuned for more from the past.