For the July 2026 issue of Astronomy, we’re bringing you our first ever digital-only issue, with all the content you expect in formats for all devices. As of May 22, the issue is live for all subscribers. Here’s how to find it.
The digital magazine: start here
The July issue lives at Astronomy.com/july-2026, readable in any browser on desktop or mobile. As a sneak preview, the landing page is live now. Sign into Astronomy.com with the email address associated with your subscription, and you’ll have access to every story.
This is the web-native edition that we built the issue around, with scrolling layouts, full-screen imagery, and interactive features that take full advantage of the digital format.
The mobile app (iOS)
Prefer to read in a dedicated magazine app on a tablet or phone? The July issue is also available through our iOS app. Download it at Astronomy.com/iOSapp and sign in with your subscription email. In the app, you have the choice of viewing the entire magazine’s print layout in a PDF viewer, or seeing each individual story in a cleaner, scrollable view.
We’re still working on making an Android app available. But if you don’t have an iOS device, the digital magazine works in any web browser, on any device — desktop, tablet, or phone.
Your digital library (all platforms)
You can also read the issue in your digital library, hosted via the Zinio web platform. Go to Astronomy.com/mylibrary in any web browser, log in with your subscription email, and you’ll see digital versions of all of your issues. On mobile, this results in an app-like experience. And if you want to read the issue’s print layouts on a large desktop screen, this is the best way to access them.
What to expect
The July issue is built around the magazine’s founding principle: There’s a universe out there that you can see right now. In our cover story, Editor Emeritus Dave Eicher offers a year’s worth of objects to observe for all kinds of equipment, including smartscopes. Michael E. Bakich curates the greatest comets of this century and tours the oft-overlooked constellation Serpens. In a special section produced with our friends at Celestron, we provide a guide to buying a first telescope, while equipment guru Phil Harrington has compiled a primer on essential accessories. And Stuart Atkinson brings us home with a story about observing and photographing perhaps the most fascinating object yet known: Earth.
We know many of you prefer the experience of reading a physical magazine. We hear you, and we understand completely. We can say with certainty: The print edition isn’t going anywhere. In fact, the design of this digital edition is also a sneak preview of our redesign of the print magazine, which will roll out later this year. The two digital issues (July 2026 and February 2027) have reduced our printing costs while allowing us to continue to deliver 12 issues a year to subscribers. It has also allowed us the opportunity to invest resources in improving our offerings for the roughly 1 million visitors who read Astronomy.com every month.
From all of us at the magazine, thank you for reading, and we hope you enjoy this issue.
