Letter from the Editor

AN is the oldest, still published astronomical journal of the world and was founded by H. C. Schumacher back in 1821. It was followed shortly thereafter in 1827 by the introduction of the Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and remains today the only national astronomical journal in Germany. We thought that we should hold on to this 180-year old tradition but, at the same time, implement a more international and timely publication philosophy. In this respect, we announce a new editorial and advisory board for AN, furthermore a face-lift for the printed version of the journal, an increased application of electronic publishing, from submission, refereeing, until appearance. In the electronic version, virtually no limitation with respect to colour figures is given. Even short movies will be possible. Another prominent new feature is EarlyView®, where accepted papers are released online within weeks before the printed issue is published. An e-mail based table-of-contents alert will be available upon request for subscribers and non-subscribers by summer this year. As in the past, publication in AN continues to be free of charge.

As in the past, AN publishes only original articles on a peer-review basis in the fields of observational and theoretical astrophysics and related topics in Geophysics and Solar physics. Additionally, we think that there is a strong need for a journal that focuses also on astronomical instrumentation, ground-based and space-based, as well as on papers about numerical astrophysical techniques and supercomputer modelling. Even if the final results of an experiment or a computer run are not yet available it is sometimes quite rewarding to inform the community of what is going on. We also emphasize that special issues of AN may occasionally be used as a fully refereed meetings proceedings.

Let me also comment regarding today's librarian's concern of ever increasing journal space. While it is true that astronomical journals increase in volume world-wide, it is also true that our time to read them doesn't. Electronic availability of articles and their associated data is thus of uttermost importance for us and represents the key ingredient in our effort for a successful continuation of AN. Please visit our homepages at the editorial office in Potsdam (www.aip.de/AN) and/or at our publisher Wiley-VCH in Berlin (www.wiley-vch.de/berlin/journals/an) as well as the dynamic internet service Wiley InterScience® (www.interscience.wiley.com) for further information.

With this palette of changes at AN it is now up to our authors, fellow astronomers and physicists, to bring AN back to where it already had been 180 years ago; a specialised but international host of excellence.

"Engage !"