The journal is devoted to publishing research, reviews and news spanning all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics.

The political liberation in the then Soviet Union during the later part of the 1980s enabled increased international contacts.

Some regrets were expressed for the discontinuation of the long-running Publications of the Tartu Astrophysical Observatory (Estonian title: W.Struve nimelise Tartu Astrofüüsika Observatooriumi Publikatsioonid), which, with some name variants, had been published at Tartu Observatory since 1817 (Latin title of its volume 1: Observationes Astronomicas, Institutas In Specula Universitatis Caesareae Dorpatensis: Observationes Annorum 1814 Et 1815, Una Cum Reductionibus).

In Latvia, the publication series Investigations of the Sun and Red Stars by the Radioastrophysocal Observatory of the Latvian Academy of Sciences in Riga (Latvian title: Saules un sarkano zvaigžņu pētīšana), started in 1974, published its final volume 36 in 1993.

Baltic Astronomy was sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Science (Lithuania), and published quarterly (4 issues per year).