''The Astronomical Journal'' (often abbreviated ''AJ'' in scientific papers and references) is a

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

monthly

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. Content Articles in scientific journals are mostly written by active scientists such as s ...

owned by the American Astronomical Society (AAS) and currently published by

IOP Publishing IOP Publishing (previously Institute of Physics Publishing) is the publishing company of the Institute of Physics. It provides publications through which scientific research is distributed worldwide, including journals, community websites, maga ...

. It is one of the premier journals for astronomy in the world. Until 2008, the journal was published by the

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', ...

on behalf of the AAS. The reasons for the change to the IOP were given by the society as the desire of the University of Chicago Press to revise its financial arrangement and their plans to change from the particular software that had been developed in-house. The other two publications of the society, the ''

Astrophysical Journal ''The Astrophysical Journal'', often abbreviated ''ApJ'' (pronounced "ap jay") in references and speech, is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of astrophysics and astronomy, established in 1895 by American astronomers George Ellery Hale and Jame ...

'' and its supplement series, followed in January 2009. The journal was established in 1849 by Benjamin A. Gould. It ceased publication in 1861 due to the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, but resumed in 1885. Between 1909 and 1941 the journal was edited in Albany, New York. In 1941, editor Benjamin Boss arranged to transfer responsibility for the journal to the AAS. The first electronic edition of ''The Astronomical Journal'' was published in January, 1998. With the July, 2006 issue, ''The Astronomical Journal'' began ''e-first'' publication, an electronic version of the journal released independently of the hardcopy issues. As of 2016 all of the scientific AAS journals were placed under a single editor-in-chief. On January 1, 2022, the AAS Journals, including AJ, transitioned to

Gold open access Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which research outputs are distributed online, free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 definition), or Gratis v ...

model, with all new papers released under a

Creative Commons Attribution A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyrics ...

license and access restrictions and subscription charges removed from previously published papers.

Editors

* 2016–present

Ethan Vishniac Ethan Tecumseh Vishniac (born 1955) is an American astrophysicist. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Astrophysical Journal and a professor of Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, after holding positions at University of Saskatchewan ...

* 2005–2015

John Gallagher III John (Jay) S. Gallagher III is an American astronomer and an expert on star formation in external galaxies, dwarf galaxies and dark matter. He is the William Morgan Professor of Astronomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he has been a ...

* 1984–2004 Paul W. Hodge * 1980–1983 N. H. Baker * 1975–1979 N. H. Baker and L. B. Lucy * 1967–1974

Lodewijk Woltjer Lodewijk Woltjer (26 April 1930 – 25 August 2019) was an astronomer, and the son of astronomer Jan Woltjer. He studied at the University of Leiden under Jan Oort earning a PhD in astronomy in 1957 with a thesis on the Crab Nebula. This was foll ...

(with Baker and Lucy for later volumes) * 1966–1967

Gerald Maurice Clemence Gerald Maurice Clemence (16 August 1908 – 22 November 1974) was an American astronomer. Inspired by the life and work of Simon Newcomb, his career paralleled the huge advances in astronomy brought about by the advent of the electronic computer. C ...

"The Astronomical Journal at Yale: in Context with Before and After"
by Dorrit Hoffleit, The Astronomical Journal, 117:9-11, 1999 January * 1965–1966

Dirk Brouwer Dirk Brouwer (; September 1, 1902 – January 31, 1966) was a Dutch-American astronomer. He received his PhD in 1927 at Leiden University under Willem de Sitter and then went to Yale University. From 1941 until 1966 he was editor of the ''Ast ...

and

* 1963–1965

* 1959–1963

and

Harlan James Smith Harlan James Smith (August 25, 1924 – October 17, 1991) was an American astronomer. He served as director of the University of Texas McDonald Observatory from 1963 to 1989, where, among other accomplishments, he initiated the construction of th ...

* 1941–1959

* 1912–1941

Benjamin Boss Benjamin Boss (January 9, 1880 – October 17, 1970) was an American astronomer. He served as the director of both the Dudley Observatory in Schenectady, New York (state), New York and the Department of Meridian Astrometry of the Carnegie In ...

* 1909–1912

Lewis Boss Lewis Boss (26 October 1846 – 5 October 1912) was an American astronomer. He served as the director of the Dudley Observatory in Schenectady, New York. Early life Boss was born in Providence, Rhode Island to Samuel P. and Lucinda (née J ...

* 1896–1909

Seth Carlo Chandler Seth Carlo Chandler, Jr. (September 16, 1846 – December 31, 1913) was an American astronomer, geodesist, and actuary. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Seth Carlo and Mary (née Cheever) Chandler. During his last year in high school ...

* 1885–1896 Benjamin A. Gould, Jr. * 1849–1861 Benjamin A. Gould, Jr.

References

External links

Official website

Scanned issues (1849-1997) from ADS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Astronomical Journal Astronomy journals Publications established in 1849 Monthly journals English-language journals IOP Publishing academic journals American Astronomical Society academic journals 1849 establishments in the United States Delayed open access journals

Editors

See also

References

External links