Astronomy Now Magazine - November 2008

I just received a copy of the November 2008 issue of Astronomy Now. The Focus section this month is dedicated to visual observing and sketching. I had the pleasure of preparing one of the articles, "How to Draw the Universe". Peter Grego wrote the article "Moonwalking". Neil Bone and Keith Cooper also discussed the benefits of sketching. With Martin Mobberley's articles "Tricks of the Eye" and "Ten Visual Treats" and a series of observing sections illustrated with sketches from several different observers, as well as a visual treatment for the section that I found really enjoyable, I thought the November issue was awesome. I am biased. But even if I didn't have an article in there, I'd still be excited about the content. Keith Cooper noted in his Forward article:

"There's a bizarre myth that we won't publish sketches because the aren't 'sexy' enough to sell the magazine. The reality is that we really don't get many submitted to the magazine for us to use. So I hope this issue will encourage some of you to begin making sketches and sending them in to us. We'd be delighted to publish the best of them in our Picture Gallery, which you can find on page 92. We would also be interested to hear your thoughts about the pros and cons of sketching in our letters pages."

So sketchers, send in those drawings: gallery2008@astronomynow.com.

While you're at it, why not send in a sketch or two (or more) to the Astronomy Sketch of the Day!

I've been impressed with Astronomy Now's use of sketches in every issue, and I've noticed that Sky and Telescope has also been increasingly conscious about using sketches regularly to illustrate articles too (thanks, Keith, Tony, Sue, et. al.).