This journal tends to focus its publishing efforts on original research regarding astronomical topics.

Other types of reporting are also included such as chronicles, proceedings of international conferences, and book reviews.

Founded in 1924, it is described as the most prominent astronomy journal during the age of the Soviet Union.

The editor-in-chief was Alexander A. Boyarchuk, Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.

The former Soviet Astronomy shares exactly the same Russian name as this journal, exactly the same print issn, but the US Library of Congress lists this under a different and unique number in its catalog.