Stargazing at Stellafane

By Dylan Marsh
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — The 86th Stellafane Convention is being held this weekend at Stellafane in Springfield, Vermont.

The convention is held each year as a gathering for amateur telescope makers. Whether commercial or homemade, attendees are encouraged to set up and display their telescopes on the beautiful site on Breezy Hill.

Stellafane, roughly translated to star shrine, was established by Springfield native Russel Porter in 1923. Porter, a mechanical engineer, architect and artist, became interested in telescope building around the time of one of his Arctic expeditions, and learned the craft himself. After years of constructing telescopes at his home in Maine, he was encouraged to return to Springfield by former Vermont Governor James Hartness, another ametuer astronomer, to work in his machine shop.

During his time with Hartness, Porter instilled his interest in telescope making to his fellow mechanically minded co-workers and taught them to build their own. A short time later fifteen men and one woman signed up to learn how to grind mirrors and build their own telescopes. Three years later, the club would hold its first official meeting. An asteroid has not only been named in honor of Porter, but for Stellafane as well.

Eventually, Scientific American, the popular science magazine, would visit Stellafane and publish articles about Porter’s success building telescopes, drawing attention from readers. Porter began selling kits for amateurs to build their own telescopes, and due to the positive response, began the convention.

Started in 1926, the convention brought amateur telescope makers to Springfield to show off what they had constructed, and over the years, the number of attendees have grown astronomically. Expected attendance for this year’s event is in the range of 800-1000 people, all camping on the Stellafane property.

Attendees of the convention are not only encouraged to bring their own telescopes, but are also able to visit and observe through some of the remarkable telescopes on the property. This includes the Porter Turret, built in 1930 and still in use, as well as the Macgregor Observatory, with its roll top roof and enormous Schupmann Telescope. The Cook Spectrohelioscope, built in 1930, will also be available for observation at the Simoni Observatory.

Over the course of the weekend, the convention will be hosting a number of speakers, workshops, and events. This year’s keynote speaker will be American author Dava Sobel. She has written a number of expositions on scientific topics including “The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars.”

At the convention, telescope making workshops will be held, as well as contests on the best telescope optics, and telescope mechanics. Phillip Rounseville, a master optician, who has worked on a number of space projects, will also be in attendance.

Anyone with a passion for astronomy, and particularly telescope making, is invited to attend the convention. Tickets for the weekend are available at the gate, with same day registration for $60 and onsite camping costing $40. Anyone who is interested in learning more about telescope making is invited to visit the Stellafane website.