Tribute to Al Nagler at NEAF 2026
At the just-completed 2026 Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF — April 10th & 11th), our Tele Vue booth contained a curated exhibit honoring some of the varied interests of our founder, Albert Nagler. This exhibit included items spanning over a century of time. For instance, we had Al’s Alvan Clark & Sons 4″ f/15 refractor from 1882 and Al’s homemade “Snake Coffin” 8″ folded Petzval refractor from 1982. From 1980 were Al’s personal C8 “Orange Tube” SCT and the prototype of his original Nagler 13mm eyepiece. More recent items included a prototype of the NASA / Southwest Research Institute PUNCH lens from 2022 and his Apollo 11mm commemorative eyepiece from 2019. We also had a slide show and a video loop of Al giving his “I Thank My Lucky Stars” presentation, describing how serendipitous life events intertwined, allowing him to achieve all he had in his career.
Exhibit Highlights
Our Al Nagler exhibit, at NEAF 2026, featured some of his personal telescopes, eyepieces and camera lenses of his design, one-of-a-kind hobby projects, desktop computer and optics software used to design early Tele Vue eyepieces, artwork, personal reference books, artifacts, images, and video from his life.
These three scopes were some of Al’s personal telescopes. From left to right:
The brass beauty is a 1882 Alvan Clark & Sons 4″ f/15 Refractor − it held a special place in his heart. He purchased his “Clark” in the early ‘80s and used it for a time. After that, he displayed it for many years at home in his family room.
At the feet of the brass scope is a Tele Vue – 140 Nagler-Petzval APO (1997). The TeleVue-140 (f/5) debuted in 1996 and was based on his patented 4-element Nagler-Petzval layout. It remains Tele Vue’s largest and fastest refractor to date. It was Al’s favorite scope to use until it became too unwieldy for him to carry. Shown here on the special mount Tele Vue offered for the 140.
On the right is Al’s Celestron C8 Orange Tube SCT (c. 1980) with original accessories on fork mount, wedge and tripod. Purchased around 1980 from his good friend and Celestron dealer Edwin Hirsch, Tompkins Cove, NY.
8″ “Snake Coffin” Folded Petzval Refractor (1982)
Having already produced the 5″ MPT refractor for testing Tele Vue eyepieces, Al wanted bigger for his own observing. So, he designed and built this 8”, f/8.15 folded Petzval (4-element, flat-field) refractor. Like the Tele Vue MPT telescope, it includes an adjustable iris diaphragm to vary the f/ratio. Al mounted the scope on the homemade equatorial mount he made for his 12″ reflector and folded the light path to make observing more comfortable. It was dubbed the “Snake Coffin” by his dear observing friend Allan Green, co-founder of NEAF, and shown at Stellafane in 1983.
Top-left: The “Snake Coffin” 8″ front lens set in all its light gathering glory. In the back, below the eyepiece adapter you can see a grab handle used to manage the scope. On the side in the rear is the lever to operate the iris diaphragm.
Top-right: Al’s optical design drawing including a crude sketch of the layout. The two lens groups are spaced 5.5-feet apart!
Bottom: Despite the folded optics, the “Snake Coffin” is over 7.5-feet in length from the front of the lens cell to the back. Toward the left-side you will once again see the lever used to control the aperture. The iris diaphragm was place just behind the rear lens group.
Presented here are some of Al’s eyepiece and NASA designs from left to right:
Tele Vue Nagler 13mm Original (1980)
This is the original 13mm Nagler eyepiece prototype. It provided the view through his telescope Al dreamt of while working on the Apollo simulator project. He designed this eyepiece in 1979, renting time on a mainframe computer in Stamford, CT, as he didn’t yet have a computer at home. The prototype eyepieces were made in Peekskill, NY. Its combination of an 82° apparent field of view and full-field image sharpness cemented Tele Vue’s reputation.
Tele Vue Apollo 11 Eyepiece (2019)
Using his Apollo 11 eyepiece gave Al great joy regardless of the scope he was using it in. The completely new “Nagler-like” eyepiece was designed in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing, the project that gave Al the desire to create a “spacewalk” eyepiece for his own backyard observing. Tele Vue “launched” the Apollo 11 eyepiece in late 2019 with a limited run of 300 serialized eyepieces in special foam-lined packaging with a message from Al and featured a matching serial number commemorative medallion. This 1¼” eyepiece featured a 2” adapter, a unique 85° apparent field of View, and a long 18mm of eye relief.
NASA PUNCH Lens (2022)
This is a prototype of the Wide Field Imager (WFI) camera objective on the Southwest Research Institute’s Polarimeter to UNify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) — a NASA funded mission. Four suitcase-sized satellites were placed in polar orbit around the Earth on March 11, 2025. Three carried the Al Nagler designed WFI camera objective lenses. They are now providing the first images of how the solar corona infuses the solar wind with mass and energy. Design considerations for the space-rated WFI objectives vs Tele Vue eyepieces:
- No cemented elements
- Titanium housing with pressure-equalizing ventilation passages between elements
- In-depth stress analysis to withstand launch vibrations and in-orbit temperature changes
- NASA approved optical coating on the first lens surface exposed to the full intensity of the Sun.
With Al’s roots in the space race and bringing a “spacewalk” observing experience to amateur astronomers, having one of his optical creations actually doing science in space has brought his achievements full circle!
Al Nagler left Farrand Optical to become the chief optical engineer for Keystone Camera Company (Clifton, NJ) from 1973 to 1977. These were among the first consumer lenses designed by Al — predating the eyepieces and telescopes he became known for. From left to right:
Keystone 60 Second Everflash model 800 Prototype (c. 1975). This is a prototype of Keystone’s model 800 instant camera and features Al’s manual focus lens design. We know this is a prototype, as there are no coatings on the lens. Introduced in 1975, it used type 100 Polaroid instant film and three AA batteries to power the flash.
Keystone model Zoom 66 camera (c. 1978). This 110-film format camera featured an Al Nagler designed f/5.6, 25 – 42mm zoom lens back when zoom lenses were a rarity for this format. It is noted for the complexity of the zoom: 7 elements in 6 groups. It had a tripod socket and a flash hot shoe.
Optical design was the only reason Al had a home computer back in the “boot disk” era of the 1980s.
HP 9816 Computer (1982)
•CPU: Motorola MC68000 16/32-bit 8MHz
•Display: 25 line x 80 character using 300 x 400 pixel, 9” diagonal screen
•Memory: 786KB
•Peripherals shown: HP 9121D Dual 3½” FDD drive (below monitor), Keyboard with rotary knob, and HP 7475A Pen Plotter (right).
Al Nagler spent many nights and weekends at the keyboard of this very computer, which he used to design the majority of the original series Nagler, Wide Field, Panoptic, and Plössl eyepieces (not the first 13mm Nagler or first focal length series of Plössl eyepieces). Shown were also the 3.5″ floppy discs that contained the actual designs. He used the “Super OSLO” lens design software by Sinclair Optics — now Lamda Research Corp. This computer has a built-in 9” screen. A diskette in drive 0 would be used to boot the machine, and a diskette in drive 1 would be loaded with the design software. The keyboard uses a phone jack. The other peripherals, instead of “plug and play” software, used DIP switches for identification and configuration. They connected via stackable cables. The screen display was pure text, but data could be plotted for graphical representation.
Al was a hands-on craftsmanship at heart. Here are some examples from left to right:
Homemade projection TV cabinet (1977)
Al loved woodworking in his basement shop, and this projection television cabinet is just one example of his many homemade projects. Created to demonstrate the first product for the newly founded Tele Vue Optics, the television projection lens was mounted in front of a portable TV and projected the image onto a very large, for the time, 60” or 72” screen. Al went to department stores to measure the radius of curvature of 13” television sets to find the brand with the flattest screen. He ultimately designed his projection lenses to be used with a 13” Quasar. When not dragging it to trade shows, Al kept the projection TV in his basement to the delight of his kids and their friends.
Paracorr Carving (1989)
“Parrot Eating Coma” is a sculpture Al carved to draw attention to his new Parracorr coma corrector at shows and star parties. The name “Paracorr” is a contraction of “Parabola Corrector.” His observing buddy Allan “Snake Coffin” Green objected to the name “Paracorr” because he thought people would think of Paraquat, the highly toxic herbicide. Al came up with the parrot figure as a whimsical attempt to steer people in a different direction.
Isaac Newton’s 2”, f/3.14 Reflector
Al was enthralled by this handmade, working replica of Newton’s Reflecting Telescope of 1671 by Rheidol Precision Instruments Ltd. of Bishop’s Stortford, England. This full-size, museum-quality replica makes use, as much as possible, of the same material as Newton’s original, including ash wood, paper, and parchment. This replica is of Newton’s second reflecting telescope that was presented to the Royal Society in January 1672.
Tribute Banner
Featured front and center of the booth, we had a tribute banner for attendees to sign. By the end of the first day it was filled with praise and gratitude for Al — at the end of the second day it was jam-packed with signatures. We would like to thank everyone that signed their name and showed appreciation to Al for his contributions to amateur astronomy. The comments are very much appreciated. The banner will be on display at Tele Vue Optics as a forever remembrance.
Springfield Telescope Makers Remember Al at NEAF
The Springfield Telescope Makers (STM), known for their yearly Stellafane convention, also remembered Al by placing a 24″ x 18″ sign with his SaturNday Essay in their NEAF booth and selling SaturNday T-shirts as a fundraiser for their club (a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization). Al was a big booster and yearly attendee at Stellafane since the late 1950s.
NEAF 2026 Reflection
Many people came by the booth to share their recollections of Al and tell stories. We thank all of you for remembering.
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I had a talk with your dad about dioptrix about 15 years ago . I told him I can’t do without it . He said please send a note to my office about that . Sales aren’t what they should be on that product . All I can say is don’t leave home with out it
A great tribute to a great person.
Thank you.
After seeing Al’s 1980 orange tube C-8 and reading it was purchased from his friend Edwin Hirsch, I had to write.
It was Christmas 1977 and under the Christmas tree was a gift in a large box with my name on it. I knew what the gift was. I wanted my first real scope so bad, but had only saved up $600. I needed $700. I pestered my My Mom and my parents ponied up the balance to go towards my Christmas gift that year. My Mom had talked to non other than Edwin Hirsch, the man himself on the phone and explained the whole gift situation to him. Mom said he was a very nice man and said he (Edwin) would help anyway he could. The scope came well in time for Christmas that year. I could not open it until Christmas day 1977. What a Christmas Day that was, my best ever. Edwin came through for me! A brand new C-8. No tripod or wedge. I had to save up for those items in the comming months. I used that scope as it was in alt/az mode on my sisters night stand. She was none to happy, but I was ecstatic with my views of the plantet Saturn, Jupiuter and the ring nebula (M57).
RIP Al and Edwin, you made a 16 year old boy very happy.