Did you know that there's more to Sky & Telescope than you can see when you're browsing it at a newsstand? Many articles include extra material that's available only on our website.

Here's a small piece of the online Table of Contents for the August 2007 issue.

Tony Flanders

To access this, go to our online Table of Contents. (There's a prominent link to this just to the right of our logo on the homepage.) When you first invoke the TOC, you'll get information for our latest issue, or you can select a different issue using the dropdowns for Month and Year.

If you scan down the list of articles, you'll probably find one or more with a hyperlink following the phrase "Beyond the Printed Page." Click on this to get the extra material.

Why do we put stuff on the Web instead of the magazine? Several reasons. Some kinds of information, like an audio or video clip, are physically impossible to convey on the printed page. Other times we want to include photos, large charts or tables that simply cannot fit into the magazine's pages.

Finally, the Internet makes it easy to give feedback to us and other readers. Some articles have a Comments box at the bottom where you can enter your own thoughts about the material. Right now there's a substantial time delay between posting a comment and having it appear on the website, but we're expecting to streamline this process very soon.

Take a look at the department this month for a couple of pieces that were posted to enhance your Sky & Telescope experience:

Monica Bobra's article about Japan's newest Sun-watching satellite has an online companion piece that shows dazzling movies of our turbulent star.

Robert Gendler's magnificent photograph of NGC 7789, shown above, illustrates an article in the August issue on Caroline Herschel, who discovered this cluster. Have you ever wondered what her reaction was when she first saw it? You can find that — and much more — when you look beyond the printed page.

Robert Gendler

And be sure to check out Beyond the Printed Page for the Targets department this month. The printed article is a fascinating bit of detective work by Michael Hoskin, who's found new evidence about the deep-sky objects that were discovered by Caroline Herschel, the first famous female astronomer. But there are still some open questions about a few of these objects, and you may be able to help resolve them if you own a small telescope comparable to Caroline's 4.2-inch reflector. The online component gives details about what Caroline Herschel saw, so that you can compare your observations with hers.

I spent several hours doing just that last week, and believe me, it's a fascinating exercise. You'll also acquire a deep appreciation of how skilled and persistent this pioneering deep-sky observer really was.

We're looking forward to hearing from you!

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