''Open Astronomy'' (formerly ''Baltic Astronomy'') is a
peer-reviewed fully
open access scientific journal, and currently published by
De Gruyter Open. The journal was established in 1992 by the Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy (
Vilnius University
Vilnius University ( lt, Vilniaus universitetas) is a public research university, oldest in the Baltic states and in Northern Europe outside the United Kingdom (or 6th overall following foundations of Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, Glasgow and ...
,
Lithuania) as ''Baltic Astronomy'', obtaining its current title in 2017 when it converted to
open access. The journal is devoted to publishing research, reviews and news spanning all aspects of
astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...
and
astrophysics. The
editor in chief is Prof.
Beatriz Barbuy
Beatriz Leonor Silveira Barbuy is a Brazilian astrophysicist. She was described in 2009 by '' Época'' magazine as one of the 100 most influential Brazilians. She is a professor at the Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosférica ...
(IAG,
University of São Paulo
The University of São Paulo ( pt, Universidade de São Paulo, USP) is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian public university and the country's most prestigious educational institution, the bes ...
).
History
Open Astronomy is the continuation of publishing in the open access model of ''Baltic Astronomy'', which was published by the Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy in Vilnius for astronomical institutions of the
Baltic states.
The political liberation in the then Soviet Union during the later part of the 1980s enabled increased international contacts. For greater international visibility, a modern journal publishing in English was desired, replacing several less visible publication series from the observatories in Tartu, Riga, and Vilnius. Each of those had, during Soviet rule, published mainly in Russian. Following discussions among the Baltic astronomical institutes, it was agreed to discontinue those publications once ''Baltic Astronomy'' was launched.
Some regrets were expressed for the discontinuation of the long-running ''Publications of the Tartu Astrophysical Observatory'' (Estonian title: ), which, with some name variants, had been published at
Tartu Observatory since 1817 (Latin title of its volume 1: ). Its final volume 53 appeared in 1990. Also the more recent ''Proceedings of the Tartu Astrophysical Observatory'' (Estonian title: ), started in 1954, were concluded with its number 109 in 1991. In Latvia, the publication series ''Investigations of the Sun and Red Stars'' by the Radioastrophysocal Observatory of the
Latvian Academy of Sciences
The Latvian Academy of Sciences ( lv, Latvijas Zinātņu akadēmija) is the official science academy of Latvia and is an association of the country's foremost scientists. The academy was founded as the ''Latvian SSR Academy of Sciences'' ( lv, L ...
in Riga (Latvian title: ), started in 1974, published its final volume 36 in 1993. In Lithuania, the ''Bulletin of the Vilnius Astronomical Observatory'' (Lithuanian title: ), founded in 1960 (published by
Vilnius University Astronomical Observatory
Vilnius University Astronomical Observatory is an astronomical observatory of Vilnius University. It was founded in 1753 by initiative of Thomas Zebrowski. The observatory is the fourth oldest observatory in the Europe. While the observatory is n ...
, in collaboration with the Institute of Physics and Mathematics), issued its final volume 86 in 1992.
''Baltic Astronomy'' was sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Science (Lithuania), and published quarterly (4 issues per year). Its final volume 25 appeared in 2016. Its
editor in chief since the journal's inception in 1992 was
Vytautas Straižys.
Abstracting and indexing
The journal is abstracted and indexed by:
*
Astrophysics Data System
The SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) is an online database of over 16 million astronomy and physics papers from both peer reviewed and non-peer reviewed sources. Abstracts are available free online for almost all articles, and full scanned ...
*
Current Contents
''Current Contents'' is a rapid alerting service database from Clarivate Analytics, formerly the Institute for Scientific Information and Thomson Reuters. It is published online and in several different printed subject sections.
History
''Cur ...
/Physical, Chemical & Earth Sciences
[
* Inspec]
* Science Citation Index Expanded
* Scopus
Scopus is Elsevier's abstract and citation database launched in 2004. Scopus covers nearly 36,377 titles (22,794 active titles and 13,583 inactive titles) from approximately 11,678 publishers, of which 34,346 are peer-reviewed journals in top-l ...
* VINITI
VINITI (russian: ВИНИТИ; All-Russian Institute for Scientific and Technical Information; russian: Всероссийский институт научной и технической информации former All-Union Institute for Scient ...
/ Referativny Zhurnal Astronomija
References
External links
*{{Official website, https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/astro
Astronomy journals
Academic journals established in 1992
Quarterly journals
1992 establishments in Lithuania
English-language journals
Open access journals
De Gruyter academic journals