2023 Stellafane Convention Schedule

Friday Evening Informal Talks

If you wish to contribute a short talk during this session, please register online. Talks are limited to 10 minutes and 20 slides. The time limit will be strictly enforced! A digital projector will be available for your use - please bring your presentation on a USB stick.

Swap Tables

The Swap Tables (located at the northeast edge of the main camping/parking area) are provided to give amateurs an opportunity to trade, buy or sell their surplus astronomical and telescope related items. The Swap Table area will be open from 7:00 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

POLICY OF THE SPRINGFIELD TELESCOPE MAKERS REGARDING COMMERCIALISM
AND THE SWAP TABLES AT THE CONVENTION

The Springfield Telescope Makers, Inc. has clarified its policy regarding commercialism and Swap Table sales at the Stellafane Convention. For the sake of historical continuity, to preserve the uniqueness of the Stellafane Convention and to encourage Conventioneers to build their own instruments, the Springfield Telescope Makers, Inc. does not allow commercial sales, of any kind, at the Stellafane Convention. All swap table sales must comply, in concept, with the above objective but are also specifically subject to the following criteria:

1. Only surplus astronomical, telescope and telescope making related items may be sold.
2. Each person will be allowed 16 square feet of table or ground space.
3. Items which have the appearance of being specifically purchased or manufactured for sale at the Swap Tables may not be sold.
4. All sales must take place within the designated Swap Table area only between 7 a.m. and noon, the Saturday of the Stellafane Convention.

The Springfield Telescope Makers, Inc. may choose to grant a limited exception to the above policies to astronomy related organizations for their fundraising. Any request for an exemption must be made, in writing, at least one month prior to the Convention. If granted, the President of the Springfield Telescope Makers, Inc. will notify the requesting organization in writing.

Any member of the Springfield Telescope Makers, Inc. has the authority to determine whether a party is in compliance with the established regulations. Any person who is found to be in violation of the stated policies will be required to comply. Failing compliance, the offending party will be asked to leave the Convention and may be escorted from the premises by Convention security.

The Springfield Telescope Makers, Inc. encourages those with questions regarding this policy to contact the Club via the Stellafane web page (http://Stellafane.org). During the Convention, any questions regarding this policy, the appropriateness of items being displayed, or any information being disseminated, should be directed to a member of the Springfield Telescope Makers, Inc.

Saturday Evening Program & Keynote Talk

The Saturday evening program will begin at 6:30 pm in the hillside amphitheater. (In case of inclement weather, the program will be held inside the Flanders Pavilion). Mario Motta, of the Springfield Telescope Makers, will be master of ceremonies.

• Greetings, announcements, Raffle Drawings
• Stellafane Shadowgram by Dr. Kristine Larsen Stellafane Convention: The Real Magic Kingdom
• Presentation of Telescope Competition Awards
• Stellafane Keynote by Joe Rao: Adventures of an Eclipse Chaser

Dressing Up in Period Attire

Want to dress like conventioneers did in the 1920's? Feel free, but please gather at the clubhouse for a group photo at 2 o'clock on Friday.

Clubhouse Treasure Hunt for Children

Drop in at any scheduled time to pick up your Clubhouse Treasure Hunt list from the Telescope Competition Registrar in the Clubhouse. Two lists will be available, one for ages 5-7 years old, and another for ages 8-16 years. Hunt in the Clubhouse for the items on the list at your own pace and return your completed Treasure Hunt list to the Telescope Competition Registrar for a small prize! Saturday Bonus - the Mechanical portion of the Telescope Competition will be occurring at the Clubhouse on Saturday at the same time! The judges will close the Clubhouse for deliberations during the Mechanical Competition, but it will most likely be open during the times scheduled for the Treasure Hunt.

Historic Telescopes On Display

Various historic telescopes from the clubhouse will be on display at various times in and around the clubhouse on Saturday. Check at the clubhouse for specific times for specific instruments. Expected to be on display: Clubhouse Solar Projection Scope, Clubhouse Polar Cassegrain, the Clubhouse Transit Telecope, and the historic Porter Garden Telescope.

Hand Crafted Telescopes On Display

Hand Crafted Telescopes made by club members or past competition entrants. Please check in with the Telescope Competition Registrar if you are setting up your hand-crafted telescope at the Clubhouse.

Stellafane Founding Members Historical Poster Display

Learn about the 12 Founding Members with a set of detailed posters, one for each Founder.

Astronomy Then and Now Poster Display

A set of posters about how astronomy has changed in a century.

Stellafane History in Photos Video Display

A video display of historic photos from our archives.

Telescope Competition

Details are on the Telescope Competition Page

Telescope Making Demo

This is a HANDS-ON mirror making demonstration - Gain first-hand experience working on mirrors at every stage of grinding, polishing and testing. Experienced ATMs will help explain each step of the process and answer any questions you may have.

Bring your own mirror for testing between 2:00 and 4:00 PM on Friday - 12½-inch Max Diameter.

The 24" mirror we have been working on for several years will be available for grinding - please sign the log book when you work on it.

Introduction to Stellafane

Are you familiar with these terms: “The Pink”, “Tent Talks” or “The Turret”? If not, if this is your first time attending the Stellafane Convention, or if you are returning and want to learn more about who the Springfield Telescope Makers are, as well as what is going on during the Convention, then this presentation is for you. Topics include, but are not limited to: A short history of Stellafane, a description of our site, including the buildings and landmarks, descriptions of the scheduled talks and activities, services available at Stellafane, local services off site, etc., in addition to answering any questions you may have about the Convention.

Solar System Walk

To illustrate the vast size of outer space, the Springfield Telescope Makers have constructed a scale model of the solar system, based on the Sun being 12 inches in diameter. At that scale, the Earth would be approximately 1/10 of an inch in diameter and 107 feet from the Sun. Jupiter would be 1.2 inches in diameter and approximately 560 feet from the Sun.

The “Solar System Walk” begins behind the Pink Clubhouse and proceeds down the road going towards the Stellafane camping area. At the appropriate distance from the scale model of the Sun, there are stations with the appropriate planet, built to scale, and a short description of each planet. The Solar System walk can be taken on your own at any time during the Convention. However, a guided walk is available at the times mentioned above, when a docent will provide additional information about the “Solar System Walk” and each particular planet. The walk takes approximately ¾ of an hour if you walk all the way to the planet Neptune, with a total distance of 3,232 feet or a little over ½ of a mile.

Telescope Field Walk

During the “Telescope Field Walk” an experienced Amateur Telescope Maker will guide small groups through the fields around the Pink Clubhouse, where the telescopes that will be participating in the mechanical competition will be set up. They will describe the various types of optical designs and mounting configurations that will be on display, point out the subtle details that go into award winning telescopes and be available to answer your questions.

Imaging the Great North American Eclipse

In 2017, six years ago, the United States witnessed a rare total solar eclipse. Next year, on April 8, 2024, another North American total solar eclipse will produce an awe inspiring, naked eye, visual spectacle. This time the narrow path will make landfall in Mexico, cross into the United States and exit in Canada. For those who want to image this event, one must plan and practice before the sunlight disappears and that magical moment arrives. In this presentation, Al Takeda will discuss how to safely image a total solar eclipse. Topics will include the type of camera to use, telescopes and camera lenses, proper solar filters, camera platforms and other sage advice from this eclipse chaser.

Al will demonstrate some of these imaging techniques in real time during the daytime from 3:00pm to 4:00pm on Friday only. The location will be next to the Breuning Observatory.

Imaging the Great North American Eclipse

Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast Initiative

The Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast Initiative (DEB-I) group is a nation-wide citizen science team that is developing and running projects for the 2023 annular and 2024 total solar eclipses. Goals are in the areas of science and broadcasting. Images will be collected for scientific studies. Previous solar eclipses produced accurate tracing of chromospheric surges from the Sun's poles. Working with NASA EDGE, WSIU NPR, PBS affiliates, and volunteer-led groups across North America, real-time images and movies will be broadcast during eclipses, both from inside the path of totality and from sites with partial eclipse coverage. Solar observation teams of citizen scientists will receive training and become part of the network. Richard Danley is an undergraduate from Southern Illinois University, and is passionate about solar studies. Chris Mandrell is a doctoral candidate in physics from Southern Illinois University. They are still recruiting teams for inside and outside the eclipse paths.

Pro/Am Collaboration: It Can Be Easy & Cheap or Complicated & Expensive, but Always Rewarding!

We have many ways to contribute to astronomical research. While some require significant investment in equipment and absorb quantities of time, others require virtually no time commitment and no equipment beyond your household computer and internet access. We will examine both extremes and options between them.

Breathing New Life into Your Vintage Refractor

You’ve found a vintage refractor. It’s covered in dust and spiders are living inside the tube…now what? Rich Nugent will take you through the steps to refurbish the telescope. His presentation will offer advice on cleaning the objective, to tuning up the focuser to work smoothly and handle modern 1.25-inch eyepieces, to collimating the optics. Before you know it, that old scope will provide wonderful views for generations to come!

Optical Coatings & Oilings for Astronomical Instruments

The optical surfaces of all modern quality astronomical instruments are either coated and/or oiled-spaced with extremely thin layers of metallic/dielectric or liquid materials to improve optical performance. This presentation will describe the mechanics of depositing these materials & the theory of thin-film interference, and give an overview of what every telescope user should know about the many available optical coatings/oilings for lens/mirrors and how to care for them.

Exploring the Local Supercluster

This talk is based on Clif’s ongoing campaign imaging the galaxies of the Virgo Supercluster. They range from the nearby galaxies in our local group clear out to the other side of the Virgo Cluster, galaxies over 100 million light years away. The imaging was done by live stacking with a C14 and a CMOS video camera, a technique that is easy to use and gives pleasing images without the hassle of long exposure guided images.

Evolute Tester for Optical Surfaces

An evolute is the locus, or collection, of centers of curvature of a curve. The Evolute Tester is a patented device that provides unprecedented precision in the testing and characterization of optical surfaces, concave, convex, flat, and other. It needs no auxiliary optical components to work. The current embodiment of it can test surfaces up to about fifty-two inches in diameter, to a precision determined by the diameter and f/ratio of the surface. While some mathematics is involved in the development and theory of the device, its use is computer controlled, and the mathematically faint of heart need experience no anxiety in this regard.

Planetary Nebulae

Planetary Nebulae – What they are, how they got there, where they are going, and new discoveries. Come and learn about the objects on this year's Telescope Observing Olympics list.

Hartness House Workshop

Workshop and Dinner information is here. Separate registration and fees apply.

Astronomy Activities for Children

There will be three 1-hour astronomy workshops for children; each session has a different activity. These astronomy workshops have been held at the Stellafane Convention since 1995. Led by Dr. Kristine Larsen, Professor of Astronomy at Central Connecticut State University and a member of the Springfield Telescope Makers, each of the three 1-hour workshops includes several activities geared for children ages 5 - 12. Younger children are welcome but will need help from a parent.

Due to space limitations, each workshop is limited to 20 children on a first-come basis. Late-comers may be turned away.

Friday 2 PM: Planets – How much bigger is Jupiter than the rest of the planets? How far away is Neptune compared to Mars? Build models to take home, one of the planets by size and the other by distance from the Sun. Win prizes for playing Planet Bingo!

Saturday 11 AM: Light and Telescopes – How can I ‘see’ invisible light? What does a colored filter do? How can I make a rainbow? How does a telescope work? Experiment with light in this series of hands-on activities.

Saturday 2 PM: Sun and Solar Eclipses – Get ready for the April 2024 total solar eclipse by learning how to safely observe it with your family. Make a model of a total solar eclipse to take home, and use magnets to learn about sunspots.

Teen Robotics Project

In observance of the Springfield Telescope Makers founding 100 years ago, Stellafane Teen program participants will learn about the technological breakthroughs occurring in the early 1920’s and how many of them have evolved into present use today. Some of these may be familiar and others might be a bit of a surprise. All participants will work in groups and be asked to join in with their ideas about what technological advances we might expect in the next 100 years.

This will be a hands-on class where the group will work in teams to construct 1920’s era inspired technology that will be demonstrated at the Convention. Attendance will be first-come first-served. If you are 100% sure your teen will attend convention and will want to attend this event, then you’ll need to get them on the list. Please email us directly at robots@stellafane.org. Special note: There will be a lot of specialized instruction so you will need to be on time! We will be working with tools, so closed toe shoes are required, no flip-flops or open sandals.

Solar Observing Hour

All attendees with solar filters or projection set-ups are encouraged to share the Sun with other attendees. The Simoni and Porter Turret observatories will be set up for solar observing as well.

Observing Olympics

Observing Olympics: Dusk to Midnight or later depending on observing conditions.
See the Observing Olympics Page for details and observing lists.

Cook Spectrohelioscope

The circa 1930 Cook Spectrohelioscope will be observing solar prominences and sunspots in hydrogen-alpha light. The Simoni Observatory is northwest of the Stellafane Clubhouse on Breezy Hill.

Porter Turret Telescope

The 1930 Porter Turret Telescope is located just north of the clubhouse on Breezy Hill.

McGregor Observatory

The McGregor Observatory, home of the 13-inch Schupmann Refractor, is located on a hilltop in the northwest corner of Stellafane East.

Breuning Observatory (Domed Observatory)

The domed Breuning Observatory is located just south of and downhill from the McGregor Observatory.

Window to the Universe: The Story of a Historic Public Telescope

The Springfield Science Museum in Massachusetts is home to a historic public telescope, built by members of the Springfield STARS Club during the Great Depression of the 1930s, a time of burgeoning interest in amateur telescope making in America. Sanderson will describe this 20-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and its intimate link to the 200-inch Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory in California. He will explain how a Stellafane first-place winner finally ushered the project across the finish line in 1972.

The Story of Stellafane

Who are the people who have made Stellafane the great event that it is today? In this talk, Phil Harrington will profile some of the key individuals responsible for turning an anonymous hilltop in Vermont into the world’s mecca of amateur telescope making and amateur astronomy.

Defending the Dark video, with the filmmaker Tara Zabriskie

See this excellent documentary and meet the filmmaker. Tara is working on a new documentary for the 100th Anniversary of the Springfield Telescope Makers.

The Life of Russell Porter

Russell Porter was a unique individual with an amazing career ranging from arctic explorer, architect, artist, and engineer on the Mount Palomar 200-inch Hale telescope. Porter taught himself how to grind and polish telescope mirrors for personal use, and then organized a group to share his knowledge with others. This group eventually became the Springfield Telescope Makers, whose shared techniques democratized amateur astronomy for anyone willing to build their own telescope. Mario will tell the story of Russell Porter’s life.

Convention Cleanup

Please clean up around your campsite and parking area. All trash should be deposited in one of the large dumpsters by the Food Tent or Exit Lane. Please make sure there are no obstacles to grass mowing in the fields - any rocks, stakes, or other hazards should be returned to the woods or taken to the dumpsters. If you would like to take down rebar and string, we would appreciate that. Pile rebar and string on the side of the road, where it will be easy for us to find and pick up. Thank you very much for making Convention cleanup easier on all of us.

Hartness-Porter ATM Museum Open

The Hartness-Porter Museum of Amateur Telescope Making is located in the underground rooms at the Hartness House Inn. Admission is free. Follow the signs in town to the Hartness House at 30 Orchard Street of VT-143 (Map). Many of the items on display are by or about Russell W. Porter, including the Springfield and Garden telescopes. His artwork traces his arctic exploration years to his work on the 200" Palomar telescope, culminating in his famous cutaway drawings. Other items of interest include early telescopes and mirror making parts.

Large RV Permit Holders must arrive

Large RVs have to be pre-registered, and must arrive between Noon and 4PM on Thursday. Do not arrive early. We have large trucks making food deliveries and installing sanitation facilities before then.

Early Entry Permit Holders can arrive

Please do not arrive before 3:00 PM and do not park on Jordan Road. The large RV's come in before you, starting at noon. You will not be admitted before 3:00 PM, and our gate staff is busy getting the RV's safely in place.

Registration Gate

The hours of operation of the Registration Gate.

Shuttle Bus Operates

The Shuttle Bus makes two stops in Stellafane East, one by the Food Tent and one by the main Camping Area (See Stellafane East Site Map (pdf)). It makes one stop on Breezy Hill near the Clubhouse.