About Stellafane
The mission of the Springfield Telescope Makers is to
stimulate interest in astronomy and allied sciences by
preserving and fostering the skill of amateur telescope making
About Us
We are The Springfield Telescope Makers, Inc., an active Amateur Astronomy and Telescope Making club located in Springfield, Vermont. We put on the annual Stellafane Convention in July or August, hold Mirror Making Classes in the Fall and Winter, and usually hold a few Public Star Parties each year (check our Events calendar).
Founded by Russell W. Porter in 1923, and considered by many to be the "Birthplace of Amateur Telescope Making", we have a rich History.
Clubhouse
About Stellafane
Stellafane is the contraction of two Latin words: stellar means star, and fane means shrine. Stellafane is therefore literally a Shrine to the Stars.
Stellafane is the name of our Clubhouse, located the summit of Breezy Hill in Springfield, Vermont. It is also the name of our annual Stellafane Convention.
The Stellafane Clubhouse and Porter Turret Telescope and the land on the summit of Breezy hill comprise the Stellafane Observatory National Historic Landmark.
However, the term Stellafane has also evolved and generally refers to all the club's land and buildings on the summit of Breezy Hill, or to the club itself, which is properly named The Springfield Telescope Makers, Inc.
About the Springfield Telescope Makers
We are a club of about 125 members, and unlike most astronomy clubs, our members are geographically dispersed, with most members spread over the New England and mid-Atlantic states. We hold monthly meetings at Stellafane, usually near a new moon weekend for best observing opportunities. Most meetings are open to visitors, check the Events calendar and then please contact us if you would like to visit (see Directions). Our current officers and board are:
Detrich President |
Hayes Vice President |
Simoni Secretary |
Jackson Treasurer |
Slater Director |
Beford Director |
Shusdock Director |
The Springfield Telescope Makers, Inc are a 501(c)3 Non-Profit organization.
About the Stellafane Website
Stellafane has been on the web since 1994 (see Web History) and provides information about club activities and information useful to Amateur Telescope Makers and Amateur Astronomers world wide.
With our web site origins stretching back to 1994, and more than 1,500 pages on line, it is a challenge to keeping all of them up to date with current technology. Our most used pages are current with HTML5 and CSS styling, and we are busy making older pages mobile friendly. But you may run into a page that just does not work well on your phone yet - so you will have to use a larger device to view it. Most 8-inch tablets work on all our pages, and anything larger such as a notebook or desktop should work fine.
Many people ask how big our site is. We have a How Big is the Stellafane Website? page to answer that question.
Webmaster
Stellafane Webmaster Ken Slater was awarded first place in 2013 and second place in 2007 in the Astronomical League's Webmaster Awards. The award is given to "acknowledge the club Webmaster who does an outstanding job of website design and administration." Ken started creating the ATM pages in the late 1998 and became webmaster in January 2006.
Assistant Webmaster
Patrick Dodson lives in Canada and it is a two day drive for him to get to Stellafane. So being an assistant webmaster is an ideal job for him, as he can work remotely with ease. Patrick is currently responsible for the Stellafane Home Page, the News & Calendar pages and the Member Activities page. He also produces the annual Convention Photo Gallery, as well as creating the Founders pages.
Links Page Editor
Glenn Becker has taken over the editing of the Links page - our singly most viewed web page year-after-year. Finding new links and fixing broken links takes quite a bit of time and energy, and he is doing both with vigor.
Contact Info & Other Media
Postal Mail
The Springfield Telescope Makers, Inc., P.O. Box 601, Springfield, VT 05156
Outreach Information and Requests
Please see the Outreach Page for program information and contact e-mail.
Stellafane Announcements Mail-List
Would you like to be reminded when Convention Registration opens? Or when Stellafane will hold a free public Star Party? If so, the Stellafane Announcements mail list if for you!
Facebook & Twitter
There is an official Stellafane Page available on Facebook (you need to be a Facebook member to see it), You can also Follow us on Twitter.
Amateur Radio 2-meter Repeater
There is a 2-meter Ham Radio repeater, call sign W1STM, operating at 147.15 MHz on site (no tone).
Directions to Stellafane
Please note that Stellafane is not open the public except during public events. If you would like to visit at other times, please contact us for information on when you can come and find someone present to show you around. Most of the time the facilities and gates are locked.
Look here for Directions to Stellafane, here for an Aerial Photomap of our property, and here for pictures of our Major Buildings.
If you are flying, see our Airports page for commercial and private flight info.
There is no public transit that service Stellafane - a car or taxi is necessary to get here. The nearest railroad station, served by Amtrak's Vermonter is in Bellows Falls.
Affiliations & Friends
 Darksky International |
 The Astronomical League |
 The Springfield Chamber of Commerce |
 Black River Innovation Campus |
 Springfield802.com |
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Anti-discrimination Policy
Adopted by the membership on December 8th, 2018
The Springfield Telescope Makers, Inc. does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. These activities include, but are not limited to, membership, selection of volunteers and vendors, and provision of services. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our staff, volunteers, subcontractors, vendors, event attendees, and clients. (Download as PDF)
Copyrights, Trademarks & Legal Information
The entire Stellafane website and its content is Copyright © 1994- by The Springfield Telescope Makers, Inc. All right reserved; commercial use prohibited.
The Stellafane 'Little Man' logo (one rendition shown nearby) is a ® Registered Trademark of The Springfield Telescope Makers, Inc. It may not be used without the explicit written permission of The Springfield Telescope Makers.
For the convenience of our readers, we provide links to other web sites that offer additional or supplementary information to that provided on our Stellafane website. The inclusion of an off-site link does not imply an endorsement of the linked website by the Springfield Telescope Makers, and we are not responsible for the content, or its accuracy or completeness or any opinions expressed by the linked site.