The build-it-yourself astronomer

To several generations of amateur astronomers the name ‘Stellafane’ has had an almost mystical significance: it is a magic word that has conjured up the creative spirit among builders and users of astronomical telescopes.

Stellafane, on Breezy Hill in Vermont, was the pioneer gathering place of amateur telescope makers, the first of the clubs to which people from hundreds of miles around gathered annually to display and use homebuilt telescopes and to learn from each other the secrets of simple, handcrafted optics that were capable of penetrating the remote depths of space. For almost three-quarters of a century astronomically minded visitors have flocked each year to the August rallies at Stellafane, inspired by the example of almost legendary pioneers such as Albert Ingalls and Russell Porter.

Traditionally, the mystique of amateur astronomy – a strong element of its essential spirit – has been the pride and joy of handbuilding the equipment with which we make our excursions into deep space.

In the generation that saw the first Stellafane gathering, every amateur built his or her own telescope, because commercial equipment was virtually unavailable. More recently, during the present authors' own novice years in astronomy, most amateurs built at least one telescope before eventually acquiring a factory-made instrument.

For many of us the rich satisfaction of crisply defined lunar craters or the rings of Saturn observed through simple optics created by our own hands has never been surpassed.