Astronomical Journals

Astronomical Journals 

specialized astronomical journals that are organs of astronomical scientific societies, unions, or publishers; arose in the beginning of the 19th century. There are several dozen astronomical journals published in the world (beginning of 1970). This does not include various nonperiodic publications such as transactions, bulletins, advertisements, announcements, and circulars of astronomical observatories and institutes, which can be considered to be astronomical journals of a special type. With the increase in the number of different astronomical publications—magazine articles as well as books—it became necessary to publish abstract journals that regularly informed the public about the contents of published scientific articles and books. An interest in astronomy, which always existed among large segments of the population, contributed to the rise of scientific-popular astronomical journals.

General journals. Individual original articles on all astronomical problems are printed in general journals published by academies of science of different countries, scientific societies, and universities. In short periods of time a number of large general journals print brief preliminary reports of the results of scientific research in various sciences, including astronomy. Some of these journals are Doklady Akademii nauk SSSR (Moscow-Leningrad; published since 1922, once every decade); Comptes rendus heb-domadaires des séances de l’Académie des sciences (Paris; since 1835, a weekly); Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (Washington, D.C.; since 1915, a monthly); and Nature (London; since 1869, a weekly).

Specialized journals. The largest leading astronomical journals are Astronomicheskii zhurnal (Moscow; published since 1924, every two months); Astrofizika (Yerevan; since 1965, four issues a year); the oldest astronomical journal published today, Astronomische Nachrichten (Kiel-Berlin; since 1821, six to ten issues a year); Astrophysical Journal (Chicago; since 1895); Astronomical Journal (Cambridge; since 1849, ten issues a year); Annates d’astrophysique (Paris; from 1938 to 1968, every two months); Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (London; since 1827, at irregular intervals); Acta astronomica (Warsaw-Krakow; since 1925, a quarterly); Bulletin of the Astronomical Institutes of Czechoslovakia (Prague; since 1947, every two months); Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society (London; since 1960); and Zeitschrift für Astrophysik (Berlin; from 1930 to 1944; during 1947–68 published twice a year; since 1969 published monthly under the name Astronomy and Astrophysics. Berlin-New York-Heidelberg).

Several astronomical journals deal specifically with the study of bodies in the solar system. These include Icarus: International Journal of the Solar System Studies (New York; since 1962, every two months) and Solar Physics (Dordrecht; since 1967).

International journals on planetary and cosmic physics are Astrophysics and Space Science (Dordrecht; since 1968) and Planetary and Space Science (London-New York; since 1959, a monthly).

Some journals arose for quick publication of brief reports. These include Astronomicheskii tsirkuliar (Leningrad-Kazan-Moscow; since 1940); Earth and Planetary Science Letters (Amsterdam; since 1966); and Astrophysical Letters (New York-London-Paris; since 1967).

Abstract journals. Referativnyi zhurnal: Astronomiia (Moscow; since 1953); Referativnyi zhurnal: Issledovanie kosmicheskogo prostranstva (Moscow; since 1964); and Astronomischer Jahresbericht (Berlin; since 1899) are some abstract journals.

Popular journals. The oldest popular astronomical journal is L’astronomie: Revue mensuelle fondee par Camille Flammarion (Paris; since 1887, a monthly). Popular Russian astronomical journals include Izvestiia Russkogo as-tronomicheskogo obshchestva (St. Petersburg; from 1892–1928); Mirovedenie (Moscow-Leningrad; published between 1912 and 1937); and the scientific-popular journal Zemlia i vselennaia (Moscow; since 1965). Popular astronomical journals also include Scientific American (New York; since 1846, a monthly); Sky and Telescope (New York-Cambridge; since 1941, a monthly); Riše hvězd (Prague; since 1920, a monthly); Sterne (Leipzig, since 1921, a monthly); Urania (Kraków; since 1922, a monthly); del etterre (Brussels; since 1880, a monthly); and Journal of the British Astronomical Association (London; since 1890, eight times a year).

L. N. RADLOVA