stellafane

As I said in my last posting, Saturday was a beautiful day, and since Saturday night was supposed to be clear, I decided to attend the Stellafane star gazing event in Springfield Vermont. Stellafane originated in 1926 in conjunction with the Springfield Telescope Co., and is the oldest star gazing party in the world. I arrived a around dusk, and found hundreds of people milling about. There appeared to be somewhere over 100 telescopes of every size and description, many of them home made. Many of them were monstrous. They reminded me of the photos taken by Matthew Brady of the massive cannons used during the Civil War. One of them was somewhere between 15 and 20 feet in length, honest to God.
Many of the participants were very accomodating. I was able to do what I'd hope to do at this event. I was able to view many of my old favorites thru these state of the art instruments. I saw the Ring Nebula thru the 20 foot monster as clear as a bell, and it wasn't even totally dark. I stumbled upon the New Hampshire  Astronomical Society, and saw the Swan Nebula, the Lagoon Nebula, the Great Hercules star cluster, and many others. The impact was indescribable.
A number of years ago, the Zen Center used to punctuate the New Years Eve ceremony with a sumptuous breakfast. As with virtually everything that Sensei is a part of, it was always pulled off with virtual perfection. The food was always out of this world. While I was enjoying the breakfast, I always had the sinking realization that while it was only the first morning of the entire year, every other breakfast would be an anti-climax. I had the same feeling at Stellafane. I was afraid that now I had a basis of comparison for the star gazing events that had always been so satisfying right in my own back yard with my perfectly satisfactory 4 inch reflector. Now I know what the night sky can really look like viewed thru the scopes I had utilized. Pete really needs to get to work on his Dobsonian.