The editors of Sky & Telescope encourage all readers to discuss the science and hobby of astronomy on our site. We look forward to intelligent debates where the astronomical community can discuss the latest news, equipment, celestial highlights, and more. But if you want to participate in the conversations, you’ll need to play by our rules. This is a family-friendly website. Legal fine print is available here, but the plain-English version boils down to one sentence: Behave yourself.

This means there will be no name calling, no accusations, no threats, no making fun of anyone’s mothers, no swearing, and no lying. This is not the place to hold private, off-topic conversations, nor is it the place to advertise your latest get-rich-quick scheme. Posting a comment on SkyandTelescope.org is not the same as contacting the editors directly.

You need to be registered and logged into the site to participate, but that process is free. Only real e-mail addresses will be allowed. If we find a phony address, we’ll delete the account immediately.

We’ll be keeping an eye on things to make sure everyone plays nice. We also have obscenity and spam filters in place. But technology isn’t perfect, and we can’t monitor every comment as it gets posted. So, to make our little corner of cyberspace as hospitable as possible, we’ll need 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.

Posts that violate the rules, or violate the spirit of the rules will be removed immediately. We reserve the right to ban users for their transgressions. Yes, we understand these judgments will be subjective. But those are the rules.

So behave yourself!