Need help choosing your first telescope? Looking to contact author and astronomer John A. Read? Looking to join our Online Astronomy Club? This is the hub of all space related activities associated with astronomer John A. Read. This includes his bestselling stargazing books, his favorite telescopes, and information about visiting the Abbey Ridge Observatory, and Stargaze Nova Scotia.

First chose was branch of astronomy you’re interested in! Is it stargazing with a telescope? Is it photographing objects in the night sky (astrophotography)? Maybe you just want to learn about the science. In any case, we have something for every space enthusiast.

Unlike other popular astronomy science communicators, John A. Read has a background it both astronomy and Spacecraft Systems. During his undergraduate degree in astrophysics, he worked at the Burke Gaffney Observatory as a telescope operator and teaching assistant. During his masters degree at the Johns Hopkins University, he designed many space missions (for his classes), working with folks from both NASA and private industry. This background greatly reinforces the content he creates for both his YouTube channel and stargazing guidebooks.

Depending on why you want to contact me determines how I’d like to be contacted. For general questions, it’s best to simply post a comment to my social media. If you’d like to get more involved in the stargazing experience with myself and other astronomers, join our online astronomy club (www.skool.com/astronomyclub). If you’d like to contact me about sponsoring a YouTube video or hiring me as a speaker, reach out using the contact us form here on this page.

While all of our books are available on Amazon, and Amazon traditionally pays authors a fair royalty, the best way to support me is to select the book from our “books” page on this website. This will direct you to the place where you can buy the book where a higher portion of the purchase prices makes it back to the author.

Up to this point, I’ve only done sponsorships with telescope retailers or manufacturers in exchange for honest demonstrations (not really reviews) of astronomy gear. I typically spend about 80 hours to produce each long for video. To cover this cost, I typically charge several thousand dollars for a sponsorship, and only offer a discount if I’m demonstrating a telescope I get to keep. Short videos (around 60 seconds) take me about 12 hours to film and edit, and sponsorship fees will be estimated accordingly.

Currently, stargaze Nova Scotia is under development. Update: as of spring-summer of 2026, the city’s approval of the development is under appeal by the across-the-lake neighbors who are concerned about the noise the stargazers will produce. While the appeal is in progress, only stargazers who know me personally will be allowed to stargaze on this property. Follow our Stargaze Nova Scotia on Facebook for updates, or follow the Abbey Ridge Observatory on Instagram.

As with Stargaze Nova Scotia, the Abbey Ridge Observatory has been affected by the appeal brought on by the across-the-lake neighbors. Although the observatory rests over 1000ft from the nearest residential building, these neighbors are concerns about the noise and have brought legal action against the city (not us) for allowing stargazing activities to occur in their neighborhood. Follow the Abbey Ridge Observatory on Instagram or Stargaze Nova Scotia on Facebook for updates.