Astronomy magazine is blessed with the good fortune to have an amazingly talented staff. The editors, designers, illustrators, and contributors are the best in the business, and your reaction to our product shows the confidence you have in them. The latest special product produced by Astronomy’s staff, COSMOS, hit the newsstands a number of days ago. Featuring an Adolf Schaller illustration of a star cluster surrounded by gas clouds and the cover story “Before there was light,” about the cosmic Dark Ages, the issue has started off with a bang on the newsstand.

If you have not seen a copy of COSMOS and you even remotely enjoy subjects relating to cosmology, I encourage you to check it out. The 100-page magazine contains 15 spectacular articles from astronomers and science writers covering the latest research on all major areas of cosmology. Included are stories on inflation theory, how the first stars formed, relativity, multiverses, string theory, the significance of neutrinos, gamma-ray bursts, supernovae, dark matter, exoplanets, and life in the universe. Among the issue’s esteemed contributors are astronomers Adam Frank, Ray Jayawardhana, Alan Longstaff, Seth Shostak, and James Trefil; and science writers Alison Boyle, Bruce Dorminey,  Ken Grimes, Steve Nadis, our own Frank Reddy, and Ray Villard. The issue is packed with numerous explanatory photos and skillfully executed illustrations.

It makes for a keepsake package covering a suite of subjects it seems we all can’t read enough about, and these articles bring us up to the moment in one compact package. If you haven’t seen the issue, I encourage you to check your nearest newsstand. It’s well represented at Barnes & Noble, Border’s, and many other bookstores, and you can also order the issue online here.