First off, as the title of this blog post suggests, we've made the decision to dive head first into the blogosphere. Before now you've seen associate editors Stuart Goldman and Tony Flanders write about astronomy online and stargazing. But we've never had the whole staff blogging about the news, what's in the sky, or what's on our minds. That changes today.

We will, as always, give you the news and prepare you for celestial events. But now we want to tear down the "fourth wall" and make our reporting more of a dialog. Before now we've never really let you, the reader, share your thoughts and opinions about what we write about. Astronomy is all about community, and we want to make sure you have a voice and a place to share your ideas about the stories we publish.

To make this happen, we've set up some guidelines. This is a family-friendly website, and we intend to keep it that way. That's why we're insisting that only registered users on SkyandTelescope.com be allowed to post comments. Registration is free, and it takes just a couple of minutes. But putting the registration wall in place will help keep out the riffraff and make the conversation far more worthwhile. We've also installed obscenity blockers and spam filters, and we'll be lurking often. If posts get out of line, we'll remove them. We're also asking you for your help. At the top right of every comment box is a "report violation" link. Click on it to tell us about a problem, and we’ll look into it ASAP.

Our goal is ambitious: to make sure you're always informed about what's happening in astronomy. Through this website and these new blogs, our job is to enhance your Sky & Telescope experience. SkyandTelescope.com shouldn't be just a website. It should be a place where you can get together with other members of the astronomical community to share your love of the night sky with each other and with the broader public.

We hope you enjoy the new format. Come by often, and and let us know what you're thinking!