Stellafane: Al’s Voyage “Home”

This August, my wife Judi and I made our annual pilgrimage to the Stellafane convention in Vermont, a tradition we’ve kept alive since the 1950s. Hosted by the Springfield Telescope Makers (STM), it takes its name from the group’s clubhouse: “Stellafane” is a Latin/Middle-English contraction of “star” and “shrine”. This year was particularly special as it marked the 100th anniversary of the Clubhouse’s opening. Situated on a 3½ acre site on Breezy Hill, this location has been recognized as a National Historic Landmark since 1989.

STM owes its existence to Russel Porter, an amateur telescope maker, and the founding bylaws still require full members to have crafted their own telescope objective. The convention at Stellafane is a celebration of telescope making, with prizes awarded for craftsmanship and optical quality. As a two-time award recipient myself, it’s an honor just to participate. It’s always a joy to return to the “birthplace of amateur telescope making” in the United States, where amateur astronomers and telescope enthusiasts come together to share their passion for handcrafted astronomical instruments.

This year, despite Thursday’s intermittent cloud cover, we set up our equipment next to the McGregor Observatory. I used my trusty Tele Vue-76 and a range of Tele Vue eyepieces for some daytime observing while a filmmaker, Tara Zabriskie captured the moments for the “Stellafane and Beyond” documentary project.

In the evening, visitors arrived at the McGregor Observatory to enjoy views through the 13″ Schupmann telescope, one of the world’s largest. Outside the observatory, we offered them views of the North American Nebula, Lagoon, and Trifid Nebulae through the much smaller Tele Vue-76. However, with the TNVC PVS-14 night vision monocular on the eyepiece, the night vision views through the Tele Vue-76’s 3″ objective were comparable to that of a 9″ scope. People were really impressed with this sight, and we also did some heavenly gazing through the night vision device hand-held at 1x power. The amount of visible nebulosity without connecting the device to a telescope surprised many. Unfortunately, the following nights were not suitable for observing. However, there was one night where I managed to mount the PVS-14 onto a 16″ Newtonian for some very impressive views despite the weather.

Stellafane is not just about the telescopes and hardware; it’s also about the people. Judi says, “it’s nice seeing people you haven’t seen in a while.” Many individuals make the yearly pilgrimage to Breezy Hill, including Dennis di Cicco (writer / editor / asteroid hunter) and Joe Rao (on-camera meteorologist / Space.com columnist). Judi, and I also had the pleasure of meeting with Cecilia Detrich, President of STM, several times throughout the event. Cecilia’s contributions to the field are truly inspiring.

Saturday was a busy day. That afternoon, I really enjoyed the “Open Clusters and Stellar Associations” talk by Larry Mitchell, Chairman of the Texas Star Party Advanced Observing Program. The evening program included the raffle drawing (that featured four sets of Tele Vue eyepieces with a total value over $7,000), telescope award presentations, the President’s speach, and the keynote address. It was a wonderful experience when Cecilia, after reading her President’s speech, called me up to the stage and read my “Saturnday” essay. The response from the audience was overwhelmingly positive, and at that moment, I took the microphone to thank them. It’s these singular moments at events like Stellafane that make the experience truly special and memorable – experiences that are now permanently posted as a link on the 2024 Convention summary page.

Next, Tony Hull took the stage as the keynote speaker. He charmed the audience and quite humorously included impromptu references to “Saturnday” during his talk. He shared his journey from being an Amateur Telescope Maker at Stellafane to eventually becoming the Program Manager for Optical Fabrication of the James Webb Space Telescope.

A final thought…I was particularly encouraged by the presence of many young attendees who were also recognized and awarded prizes. It’s inspiring to think that they might become regular attendees and come to see the trip to Springfield, Vermont, as a journey back home.