2013 Convention Reports

I'm Olivier, and this was my first Stellafane Convention. I remember reading about it in popular astronomy magazines as a teenager in France, and this year as I settled in Quebec City I finally could attend. I used to be the Adaptive Optics Systems Engineer at W.M. Keck Observatory and had to work o the largest optical telescopes in the world; I still work on several AO projects at the National Institute of Optics in Quebec, but I must say I always admired amateurs who were not only good at optics but also at inventing new mechanical designs and built their own telescopes.

I enjoyed staying at my first Stellafane Covention "as a tourist" (it was either telescope or camping gear in my car anyway so I chose comfort). I met Al Nagler who as an optical designer myself is one of my idols...

I posted the pictures I took on my slickpic web album site; you can find them at
http://oliviermartin.slickpic.com/a/StellafaneAmateurTelescopeMakersConvention?grid&viewer

I made it possible for people to download the pictures they like no copyright involved here... click on the down pointing arrow in the upper right corner when a picture is being viewed in the Large Photo View.

Thank you to the organization and see you next year I hope!
Cheers, Olivier.

UFO - Unidentified Fueling Objects

[Thursday, August 11, 2013] Stellafane Convention is an annual event held in the Green Mountains of southern Vermont. Sponsored by the Springfield Telescope Makers, it is a four day retreat of telescope makers, technology devotees and astronomers of various intensities and degrees. Space studies done by both amateurs and professionals are welcome and addressed here. It’s a blend of all ages and all astronomical relevance in concert, viewing together under the Summer Milky Way.

It was at one of these Conventions that my husband, Al and I shared an uncommon encounter with some high flying objects and Earthly fellow observers. On the first evening of Convention, it is our tradition to walk up the mile long dirt road from the camping area of Stellafane East to the Pink Clubhouse. It is at this spruce gum pink colored building on the Summit where the Springfield Telescope Makers finalize their last minute convention plans. It also makes a perfect place to view the Sun setting over Mt Okemo.

Just above Mt Okemo remained a few lingering wispy clouds. The clouds were a multicolored mixture of silky kitten gray and warm golden peach. Like curtains on a great sky stage, the clouds were pulling away, making room for the main event of Summer night stars. Sol had already dipped below the western mountain range and its last sunrays were spotlighting the opening act of the Milky Way. The Moon assumed the shape of a thin silver sliver and very near by was a dazzling bright white Venus.

Several people set up their small refractors to photograph this graceful portrait. Since all astronomers become one united family at Convention, Al and I were instantly invited to view the sky show through binoculars and the battery of scopes. As the crowd talked quietly and admired the sky someone broke the tranquility by shouting “Hey, what is that little speck close to Venus?” A small black dot appeared in the sky close to the Evening Star planet. No observer noticed it before; we were all in wonder of the planetary conjunction and no one saw the arrival of this tiny dark spot. Having telescopic instruments at the ready, all scopes turned toward this small speck hanging in the clear firmament. It appeared to be a high flying plane with its distinct shape of swept back wings, fuselage and jet aircraft tail. A closer look revealed an even smaller dot flying in tandem along side the tiny plane. There was some sort of slender black line connecting the two bodies as they silently drifted together across the twilight.

As we all viewed this odd arrangement high in the western sky, someone said it must be an air force jet refueling from a flying tanker plane. Someone else mentioned that real refueling only occurs over the ocean and so this must be a practice flight; probably from Pease Air Force Base in New Hampshire. Most people on the Summit said they had never witnessed such an event except in the movies. It was interesting to personally watch this dance of high flight fueling. Then out of the golden sky, a second array of speck and smaller speck appeared suddenly ….and then another and another. There were now four pairs of tiny black dots peppering the Summer sunset.

All these planes were visually unidentifiable except through our optical devices. We wondered out loud how many others back in the camping field noticed such tiny things in the sky. Did other Convention attendees use their telescopes to view and identify these dots? People without scopes or binoculars would have no way of probing these pinpoints. They might speculate their own tall tales about these soaring sky spots. My husband, myself and the cluster of people standing at the Summit who witnessed this all agreed. The world needs more telescopes and telescope users. Telescopes would help the rest of the population gain knowledge and dispel the fear of captivating objects that dance in the sky.

Bonnie Witzgall of AAI in New Jersey