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Stellafane Convention, das berühmte, aber auch etwas verschrobene Traditionstreffen vom Springfield Telescope Makers Club in Vermont, USA, feierte dieses Jahr sein Hundertjähriges Jubiläum seit seiner Gründung durch Russel W. Porter.
The New York Times - Some Buy Telescopes. These People Build Them From Scratch.
For a century, amateur telescope makers have gathered at the Stellafane convention to celebrate their craft. Will the event last another 100 years?
The event has done more than just nurture a hobby, club members say. Stellafane has imbued generations of stargazers with skills that seeded the optics industry, contributed to cosmic discovery and influenced both space exploration and national defense. It also helped spur the rise of amateur astronomy across the globe.
But the world looks different from the way it did 100 years ago. Telescopes are widely available now and often cheaper to buy commercially than to build from scratch. Handiwork is becoming a thing of the past. Widespread light pollution has led to a loss of dark skies. Stellafane’s attendance has waned, and the club’s membership is graying.
Despite their reach, Stellafane and the Springfield Telescope Makers largely flew under the radar for decades to those outside of the astronomy community. Members describe the club as historically introverted. Old accounts often called the makers “telescope nuts” doing who-knows-what in the woods, a portrayal they embraced.
Stellafane has evolved since 1926. Some 800 people attended the convention in August, and many brought with them scopes not built by hand, but purchased. They set up shop in a clearing, acquired by the club in 1986 to support the event’s expansion, east of Breezy Hill. This year’s agenda included a daylong workshop with professional astronomers, treasure hunts for children and a talk on using artificial intelligence for amateur observing.
But the heart of the event remains the same. The most dedicated attendees still spend months, even years, grinding a mirror and finding clever ways to house it in a telescope. They place their handcrafted portals to the stars in front of the pink Stellafane clubhouse and share trade secrets well into the night.
Sky & Telescope - Stellafane or Bust
Gruß, Peter
The New York Times - Some Buy Telescopes. These People Build Them From Scratch.
For a century, amateur telescope makers have gathered at the Stellafane convention to celebrate their craft. Will the event last another 100 years?
The event has done more than just nurture a hobby, club members say. Stellafane has imbued generations of stargazers with skills that seeded the optics industry, contributed to cosmic discovery and influenced both space exploration and national defense. It also helped spur the rise of amateur astronomy across the globe.
But the world looks different from the way it did 100 years ago. Telescopes are widely available now and often cheaper to buy commercially than to build from scratch. Handiwork is becoming a thing of the past. Widespread light pollution has led to a loss of dark skies. Stellafane’s attendance has waned, and the club’s membership is graying.
Despite their reach, Stellafane and the Springfield Telescope Makers largely flew under the radar for decades to those outside of the astronomy community. Members describe the club as historically introverted. Old accounts often called the makers “telescope nuts” doing who-knows-what in the woods, a portrayal they embraced.
Stellafane has evolved since 1926. Some 800 people attended the convention in August, and many brought with them scopes not built by hand, but purchased. They set up shop in a clearing, acquired by the club in 1986 to support the event’s expansion, east of Breezy Hill. This year’s agenda included a daylong workshop with professional astronomers, treasure hunts for children and a talk on using artificial intelligence for amateur observing.
But the heart of the event remains the same. The most dedicated attendees still spend months, even years, grinding a mirror and finding clever ways to house it in a telescope. They place their handcrafted portals to the stars in front of the pink Stellafane clubhouse and share trade secrets well into the night.
Sky & Telescope - Stellafane or Bust
Gruß, Peter
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