Schupmann Telescope / McGregor Observatory Dedication

By Maryann Arrien, August, 1996

McGregor Observatory Dedicated in Springfield, VT

On Saturday, July 15 1995, the town of Springfield Vermont became home to another unique astronomical observatory.

The McGregor Observatory, as it is called, was dedicated by the Springfield Telescope Makers group to the memory of their member Douglas McGregor. It houses a telescope which at this moment is the largest operating one of its kind in the world. It is a 13 inch f10 diffraction limited Schupmann design, which combines refractive and reflective optical elements to create an unobstructed, coma and color free image. This makes it especially suited for observations of the planets. The optics, as well as the observatory itself, were fashioned 'from scratch' by club members in their spare time over an eight year period.

McGregor, of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, was an avid amateur astronomer and telescope maker who was best known as Master of Ceremonies of the Stellafane Convention up to the time of his passing in 1988. The close knit club reacted to sudden loss of McGregor by undertaking this ambitious observatory project in his name. The McGregor Observatory was designed and largely built by his close friend John Martin V of Chester, VT. He, Charles Thayer and other members of the telescope making club set about building the observatory structuren atop a granite rise. Meanwhile, optical designer Scott Milligan and master optician Philip Rounseville spent countless hours of labor on the telescope. It is a tribute not only to their Yankee ingenuity and amateur zeal that this unique observatory was created, but largely to the inspiration of their comrade, Doug McGregor, who loved stars and telescopes as much as anyone ever did.