[2019-Nov-25] Another November is upon us, which means Elections. At the meeting this Saturday, the Annual elections were held.
There aren't a whole lot of changes. The board members are nearly all incumbents, save one. Dave Tabor, who served out a 1 year term as Immediate Past President in a non-voting advisory role, was elected to being a Trustee, replacing Rick Hunter. We would like to thank Rick for his service with the board.
Jeff Lowe President
Francis O'reilly Vice President
Jay Drew Secretary
Glenn Jackson Treasurer
Kris Larsen Trustee
Ken Slater Trustee
Dave Tabor Trustee
Planetary Imaging Update
[2019-Nov-02] You've no doubt seen the beautiful imaging of Jupiter and Saturn as done by Thomas Spirock during Convention, which were posted in the 2019 Convention Photo Gallery.
We now have an update for you, with even more great images! Sadly, due to weather and telescope mount problems, these will likely be the last of the year. These were all imaged with Stellafane's Schupmann housed in the McGregor Observatory.
Imaged using 9-Inch f/27 Schupmann by Thomas Spirock.
Imaged using 9-Inch f/27 Schupmann by Thomas Spirock
Imaged using 13-Inch f/19 Schupmann by Thomas Spirock.
Imaged using 13-Inch f/19 Schupmann by Thomas Spirock
Imaged using 9-Inch f/27 Schupmann by Thomas Spirock
Imaged using 9-Inch f/27 Schupmann by Thomas Spirock
Imaged using 13-Inch f/19 Schupmann by Thomas Spirock
Imaged using 13-Inch f/19 Schupmann by Thomas Spirock
Imaged using Schupmann by Thomas Spirock.
Imaged using Schupmann by Thomas Spirock
Up-All-Night Reminder
[2019-Oct-3] This is to remind everyone about the Up-All-Night Star-Party/ Open House occuring, Tomorrow, Oct 4th at 7pm at Stellafane and will
run thru the wee hours in the a.m. of 10/6. Refreshments will be
available. People can call the Clubhouse, 802-885-3779, for questions
about the weather.
What? More Star-Parties?
[2019-Aug-13] Did it just feel like the Stellafane Convention just ended? We STM Members never idle, and we have some Fall Star-Parties up on offer. We hope that you can join us.
Saint-Gaudens Star Party: Saturday, September
7th at 7:00pm, at Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, Cornish, NH. (Rain-Date: Sunday September 8th) [Press Release for More Info]
[2019-Aug-08] Another great convention has come and gone. The farewells are always the hardest, but hopefully you've met some new friends too! The weather also couldn't have been better. Original early predictions for convention weekend were for dark clouds and big storms, although very fortunately for us, we had very warm days and three consecutive clear nights. And that means, lots of obvserving!
Between the beautiful scopes on the hill, there were a lot of firsts at Stellafane this year. A 6" Mirror was the first mirror to be aluminized on site in Stellafane's history. And not only did they get to see their mirror being coated using Alan Ward's aluminizing machine, they were later inducted as a member of the Springfield Telescope Makers that very same night! You know who you are, we salute you! ;-)
Another first was the breakthrough spray-on silvering technique demo done by Peter Pekurar on Saturday afternoon, the first of its kind to be done in North America. Audible gasps were heard in the overflowing ATM tent as bare glass surface was transformed into a quality reflective object, all of us watching in awe. Dave Kelly's new 12.5" Silverized Mirror was then used to view the central star in the Dumbbell Nebula later that same night. Nothing short of amazing!
Congratulations go to all the winners who entered their scopes on the Hill. It wouldn't be Stellafane without you, the heart of Stellafane.
We welcomed back Dr Alan Stern, Principle Investigator of the New Horizons Project for another amazing talk, this time about Ultima Thule.
And finally, let's thank all of the STM Members and volunteers and Food Staff who have made this convention possible. We'll see you next year!
As always, if you have convention photos you'd like to share, please send them to
webmaster@stellafane.org for our convention photo page. For large batches of pictures, we recommend linking to a photo service such as Flickr or Dropbox.
From bare glass to a mirror in about 30 minutes.
From bare glass to a mirror in about 30 minutes.
Spray-On Silvering Demonstration at Convention
[2019-Jul-04] This might sound too good to be true, but recent advances in mirror making have made it possible to transform one’s mirror from bare glass to a highly reflective mirror surface using a spray-on technique, done at home using cost effective and readily available materials.
Peter Pekurar of Canada will give convention goers a demonstration of this incredible process that is sure to impress.
A Mirror Silvering Demonstration will be given on Saturday, 3:00pm to 5:00pm at the ATM demo tent (north of the T-Shirt sales area). The demonstration will detail the steps involved to successfully apply a protected silver spray coating to telescope mirrors. The process came together by amateur telescope makers from across the USA and Canada and has been applied successfully to numerous mirrors with excellent results. Reflectivity and preliminary anti-tarnish evaluation results will also be discussed. Observers at Stellafane will have the opportunity to see this demonstration as a live event."
It's a go! Convention Registration is open!
[2019-Apr-30] Convention Registration for the 2019 Convention is now open! We look forward to seeing everyone, both regular and new attendees. This is shaping up to be another great year.
A little reminder of what's in store: Alan Stern, Principal Investigator for the New Horizons project returns to us this year for another keynote to update us on the Ultima Thule flyby. In 2015, a mere few months after New Horizons started transmitting its images, we were transfixed while a whole new set of never-before-seen high-resolution images were being revealed to us. We look foreward to seeing what Dr Stern has in store for us.
A note about the Lobster and Chicken Dinners: These need to be pre-ordered.
For ease-of-use, this has all been rolled into Convention Registration process.
Are you attending the Hartness House Worshop? This is purchased separately. If you are, and are also purchasing camping or RV permits for convention, you will be allowed to set up on Wednesday from 12pm to 6pm at no additional charge. This is a unique perk.
Alan Ward with Alumizing Machine to be used at Stellafane
Alan Ward with Almuminizing Machine to be used at Stellafane.
Mirror Coatings at Convention Take Two!!
[2019-Apr-8] [Note: This was originally promised for last year, but due to unforseen last minute circumstances, the machine had to be completely rebuilt. Alan Ward apologizes for any inconvenience caused and promises it works better than ever, including a few surprises!]
The Stellafane Convention has always been proud of its rich history of telescope making. From its humble beginnings in the 1920's with Russell Porter, the gathering that it was had always encouraged and nurtured the craft. From the beginning, there was always the grinding of the mirror. Then with the building of telescopes came the display and the eventual competition that is still in effect to this day.
Stellafaners get the chance to win mirror making kits during the Saturday Evening raffles, and then are greatly encouraged to attend the Telescope Making Classes. We have telescope making demos on site, and we even have mirror testing on-site. But what if we told you that you could bring your finished mirror to Stellafane to have it coated?
That's right! This year, one of the things we're proud to be able to offer is the ability to coat mirrors on-site. Thanks to Alan Ward who will be bringing down one of his special machines, this process will be available during Convention. So if you have a mirror ready to be coated, you might want to bring it.
The introduction of Vacuum Coatings for mirrors at Stellafane was originally planned for 2018, but a leak in Alan Ward`s high-vacuum system developed at the last minute before Convention. Alan has since completely stripped-down the machine and renewed the vacuum seals, resulting in better performance than ever!
Now for the nitty gritty details: Mirrors up to 10-inches only, please. Up to 12 mirrors will be processed during convention, depending on the weather. Humidity is a factor as it can slow down the process, so allow approximately an hour for the entire process. The mirrors will be coated with bare aluminum which is fragile and not protected so bring a container for your mirror to ensure the delicate coated surface does not touch any foreign object. Mirrors having existing coatings need to be stripped by Alan Ward ahead of time.
To register a mirror for coating, please fill in the sign-up sheet at the coating location on the West Side of the Pink Clubhouse. The only payments Alan requires are bags of ice! These are needed for cooling his aluminizing machine, as we hear it gets very hot and thirsty! Please bring 2 bags of ice with your mirror at the scheduled time slot you reserved.
For a schedule of operation, please check the convention schedule.
2019 Hartness House Workshop
[2019-Jan-22] The subject of the 2019 Hartness House Workshop (Thursday, 8/1/19) is
"Advanced Telescope Making". Richard Berry, author of many astronomy
books and former editor of "Astronomy Magazine", will give the
key-note/banquet presentation. Formation of the program is under way
and will be available in early Summer.
You can register for the
Hartness House Workshop when you register for the main convention.
Note that if you register for the Hartness House Workshop and you register for the Convention with a camping permit, you are able
to enter the Convention grounds starting on Wednesday, 7/31/19 at
noon so that you may set up your camp before the workshop.
Pictured here is Dr Alan Stern, New Horizon's Project Investigator giving us a rousing Keynote in 2015. - Photo by Ken Slater
Pictured here is Dr Alan Stern, New Horizon's Project Investigator giving us a rousing Keynote in 2015.
New Horizons Mission Lead back for 2019 Convention
[2018-Nov-22] Back in 2015, when the world was waiting with baited breath over what would become quite a revealing set of high-resolution images of Pluto, the Springfield Telescopes were delighted to be able to host Alan Stern, New Horizon's Principal Investigator. And together, we were among the first in the world to view these stunning pictures, giving us new insight into the world of Pluto.
And for the 2019 Convention, the Springfield Telescope Makers are delighted yet again to bring Alan Stern back as Keynote Speaker. This time around, he will be talking about the Kuiper Belt Object Ultima Thule flyby that happened in January 2019.
So, mark your calendars! Convention Weekend is August 1-4. Signups will be open May 1st.
