A few new titles have recently joined the Nature family, publishing their first issues this month. One in particular is close to the hearts of the Nature Physics editors — and not just in terms of its topic. The newly launched Nature Astronomy is led by one of the first editors of Nature Physics, May Chiao. May was part of the team that launched Nature Physics, and stayed with us for over ten years. During that time she handled an eclectic editorial brief that included, among other things, astrophysics. Her flair for a pithy title has certainly coloured our pages. And as sad as we are to see her leave, we wish her and all the Nature Astronomy editors the best.

Nature has a long tradition of publishing astronomy — unsurprising given that its founder and first editor was a British astronomer, Sir Norman Lockyer. The astronomy content has been complemented by more astrophysics and planetary science in the pages of Nature Physics and Nature Geoscience. Now, Nature Astronomy aims to bring astronomers, astrophysicists and planetary scientists together in one place, and foster the interaction among these communities.

We are keen to play our role in promoting this dialogue and to engage more with the astrophysics community. We are looking forward to joint editorial projects with Nature Astronomy (watch this space!) and hope that together we can offer a more diverse outlet for the astrophysics community. Meanwhile, do check out our friends online at www.nature.com/natastron and on Twitter @NatureAstronomy.