The Al Nagler Saturnday interview with Eli Goldfine

Editor’s Note:
Albert “Al” Nagler, founder of Tele Vue Optics and one of the most beloved figures in amateur astronomy, passed away on October 27, 2025, at the age of 90, fittingly with a telescope in hand. For more than half a century, Al’s innovations transformed backyard observing, from the immersive Nagler eyepiece to the finely crafted refractors that redefined visual astronomy. His influence reached from small observatories to the Apollo program itself, where his optical designs helped train astronauts for the Moon.

This interview, likely his last, was carried out not by a seasoned journalist but by 13-year-old Eli Goldfine, a young and passionate amateur astronomer. At ninety and thirteen, they stood nearly eight decades apart, yet astronomy bridged that distance effortlessly. The same curiosity that first lit Al’s imagination generations ago now shines in Eli’s eyes, connecting two kindred spirits separated by time but united by wonder.

Eli, who serves as Outreach Director and Webmaster for the Westchester Amateur Astronomers, brought to the exchange the same spark of curiosity that once set Al’s own path in motion.

ScopeTrader is deeply honored to share their conversation, a meeting of generations filled with curiosity, laughter, and the quiet joy of discovery. In Eli’s questions, we hear the beginnings of a lifelong journey. In Al’s answers, the wisdom of a man who spent his life helping others see farther.

With that, we turn to Eli.

I, Eli Goldfine, had the honor of interviewing Al Nagler, the legendary founder and visionary behind Tele Vue, at the July 2025 Stellafane Convention. This was recorded in front of the McGregor Observatory at Stellafane East, where Al had set up a tent, joined by many members of his extended family attending the convention for the first time. The interview has been lightly edited for flow and clarity.

At Stellafane, I also had the opportunity to test the all-new Nagler Type 7 eyepieces as well as Tele Vue’s PUNCH lenses for solar space telescopes.

Eli Goldfine: Since you grew up in New York City, what was the moment that hooked you on astronomy, telescope making, and optics? And how did you get to Stellafane the first year you went?

Al Nagler: My father took me to the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, and I enjoyed the experience so much; it fascinated me about continuing an interest in astronomy. I was at a point where I was ready to go into high school in the Bronx where I had choices. I loved classical music, I loved to do artwork, and I loved astronomy. It was a neat combination but you can't do it all in one place as far as the school goes. Turns out the Bronx High School of Science had a special course which you could take that allows you to do anything you want to do scientifically or mechanically.

I knew about that, so I decided to go to Bronx High School of Science. I started building parts of smaller telescopes, SkyScopes1, and other small telescopes. Later, I wanted to build a bigger telescope, so I decided I was going to build an eight inch reflector.

It was an eight inch Newtonian. I bought the mirror from a company in the Bronx that sold mirrors and equipment for amateur astronomers to build telescopes. So I bought an eight inch blank, and I actually ground and polished the mirror on my mother's sewing machine.

Goldfine: It was directly on the sewing machine?

Nagler: Sewing machinery was the base of it, and I built something on top where I could put the eight inch mirror and its blank and create friction between them to make the mirror curve correct. So that's how I started off. And then there was a major shop class at Bronx High School of Science, and that's where I built all the mechanical parts of the telescope. The telescope was appreciated by the teachers at the school, and I ended up getting the shop award for building that telescope.

Goldfine: The eight inch telescope you built, you brought that to Stellafane and it won some awards, correct?

Nagler: Yes. I brought that to Stellafane. I brought the telescope there and it got a third prize.

Goldfine: In what category?

Nagler: I think it was mechanical excellence.

Goldfine: How did your telescope that you built at Stellafane eventually lead to your career designing the optics for the lunar module?

Nagler: I became very interested in astronomy. When I graduated high school, I had to decide what I was going to do in terms of college. My father unfortunately passed away when I was 15 years old. I had to work full time and I had to go to college at night. I went to City College for 16 years and got my degree in physics. It had nothing directly to do with astronomy, but when I met a lot of interesting people there that were also connected with the Hayden Planetarium, ?so I was able to visit it a lot.

So this continued interest resulted in my realization that my home-built mount was strong enough so that I could build a larger telescope to put on the same mount. This is when I decided to build my 12 inch telescope. I bought the mirror. I may have re-polished it. I don't remember at this point, but it was 12 inch f/3 and a big plastic tube. I brought that to Stellafane and I got first prize that year.

Goldfine: Following your second telescope, how did you begin your career at Farrand Optical?

Nagler: I was looking for work after I graduated high school. I had a variety of different jobs for a while. But I found out that there was an optical company that was in the Bronx where I lived, and it was a research optical company called Farrand Optical Company. I knew that would be an excellent opportunity for me.

So I showed them an article I wrote about how I built it and pictures of it in Mechanics Illustrated. So I took the magazine with me and I walked into the office and at Farrand Optical Company and I showed them the article and I said, “do you have any openings for me?” And they said, “Yes, we do.” So they hired me.

Goldfine: They were contracted to do the lunar module work, right?

Nagler: Well, they worked on a lot of different projects there. One day the boss comes to me (and this was a key moment of my life), he says “Al, we have a new project. Would you like to design the optics for a training system that's gonna train our astronauts to land on the moon?” I still get goosebumps every time I talk about that, I'm sorry.

Goldfine: And this was a big surprise for you?

Nagler: Yes. And we worked on a variety of projects, in fact. I first built a simulator for the Gemini mission, right? Then I did the simulator for the LEM [Lunar Equipment Module]. The LEM has a large triangular window. If you make a circle out of the three corners of the triangular window, and you have roughly a 12 inch distance from the astronaut’s viewpoint to the window, it turns out that circle is 110° from their perspective. This inspired some of my wide-field eyepieces as well.

Goldfine: Was that the original inspiration for what would eventually become the TeleVue Nagler eyepieces?

Nagler: No, the Nagler eyepieces came before that.

I wanted an eyepiece that had a large field of view and a sharp image over the entire field. I designed many series of Nagler eyepieces. I think it was when I got to type five I did the 31 millimeter neighborhood, which is a giant eyepiece.

Goldfine: When you started TeleVue, you originally manufactured projection lenses for the video screens. Was that a rewarding venture? Did you realize you wanted to manufacture eye pieces eventually?

Nagler: That's correct; the projection lenses were my first project. I knew I wanted to build eyepieces eventually, but I had to create a project that would make me successful in order to be able to proceed on my own.

Goldfine: Were the projection lenses successful?

Nagler: Oh, yes. Very popular.

Goldfine: After the success of the projection lenses, how did you start producing eyepieces?

Nagler: I knew that I could be successful with eyepieces, but I didn't think I could suddenly enter that market and take the big designs that I have with 82° fields and be successful.

I decided to make high quality, simple eye pieces first. Plössls were common eyepieces, and I designed and maximized the performance of the series, and that allowed me to start with a 50° view. After, I made the Naglers and the ones in between wide fields, which then became the Panoptics. That's how our eyepiece collection developed.

Goldfine: When you launched your first eyepieces, were they instantly sold or did you gradually gain traction?

Nagler: No, they were instantly sold and I knew a lot of the dealers in the telescope industry, so I worked with them to sell my product.

Goldfine: There were more eyepiece vendors like luxury eyepiece vendors back then. TeleVue is the one of the only quality independent eyepiece manufacturers.

Nagler: Yes, we broke the boundaries.

Goldfine: What your predictions are for the future of astronomy. What do you think of the smart telescopes that have been taking over the telescope industry?

Nagler: I think that it’s amazing they combine all of that technology and one that's simple, a small telescope, but relatively small aperture.

You're not looking at it looking through a pure optical system, it's optical plus electronic amplification and adjustments and so on. I'm not into that electrical side specifically, I stick to visual impact performance. I'd like to make eyepieces that allow you to see as close to what the natural eye can see and get the highest resolution and contrast that the atmosphere will allow.

That’s been the goal of TeleVue all along.

Goldfine: Your night vision product is helping to do that, right? The image intensifiers?

Nagler: Yes, I was familiar working with the other companies, such as those that manufacture night vision equipment for the military. I designed the eyepieces and lenses for night vision systems. When the night vision became publicly available, at least in the United States, I thought it was another significant advancement. The nice thing about night vision systems is that they have a small objective lens in the front. A lot of all our current eyepiece designs have a top. That has allowed an attachment adapter to screw in to allow night vision systems to attach to the top of the eyepiece.

It's looking infinity into infinity. It multiplies the light ten times or so.

Goldfine: I've seen some of the people in my astronomy club have those, and they really brighten the image a lot.

They really add so much detail to the original image. However, I think a challenge in the astronomy industry is that the ZWO Seestar is $500 and the image intensifiers are $5,000. People choose the cheaper option, but it means visual observing could die out.

Is there any way that the night vision product is going to be more accessible to the average observer in the future?

Nagler: Other people have made different types of night vision systems that are simpler, but our systems have a much higher quality of the electronics and the optics, which are so advanced and so readily available that people have to realize it's a one time, lifetime purchase. When you buy a car, you buy a car for $5,000 or so, you would say, “hey, that's gotta be a pretty cheap car!” It's gotta be a used car, right? And you buy several during your lifetime.

So if the astronomy experience is part of your life, as they say, “you buy once, you cry once.” So that's why we made the adapters for Night Vision.

It's changing technology. I don’t know where it's gonna go from here. At the moment, we're not selling any night vision units itself. People have to buy it from Night Vision Manufacturing, but we have all the accessories.

Goldfine: I wanted to talk a bit about Stellafane. I see this year you've brought your whole family up to see it and you've been coming here for, how many years have you been coming to Stellafane?

Nagler: I think 1955 is actually the first year I came here.

Goldfine: What's your personal connection to Stellafane that keeps you coming every year?

Nagler: It's the enthusiasm of amateurs that come here and to do both visual and imaging astronomy. Particularly you see a lot of visual telescopes.

People from all over the country are coming here this weekend. It has a great historic life, if you read about it from the 1920s.

Goldfine: Last year at convention, you spoke during the keynote presentation about SaturNday.

Nagler: Yes. Saturn is my favorite object. I think it's the most beautiful object.

Anybody who sees Saturn in the telescope, the first thing they say is “is that real?” Because it's so beautiful and everybody thinks they know what Saturn looks like. My feeling is that when people know how beautiful and important and gorgeous Saturn is, then why not change the name of the day to SaturNday, which is what it's really named after, and make the connection of the astronomy hobby directly connected to the beauty and wonder.

Goldfine: It's so great that you're able to look at something so far away with just a small thing here on Earth. You’ve enabled all of this observation to happen for the past 48 years, and it’s been so great for everyone who has the curiosity to look up.

Thank you so much for not only doing this interview, but on behalf of the Springfield Telescope Makers, thank you for coming to Stellafane and spreading the word about SaturNday.

Nagler: I hope you along with everyone else on this hill today can continue that effort for the benefit of the universe. If people love Saturn, they love astronomy and they appreciate the wonders of the universe and what we have here on Earth.

I’ve found that first-time views of Saturn through a telescope typically elicit gasps of delight followed by inquisitive questioning.

Saturn’s startling beauty can open the door to wonders and knowledge about the universe that can inspire a love and appreciation of all the arts, sciences and history.

Understanding something of the vastness and nature of the universe, and our unique position as the only species possessing such knowledge, suggests we commit to fostering the best in us: love, kindness, respect for learning, and for all the amazing life-forms we’re so fortunate to share on this wonderful planet.

So let’s use Saturn as a means to enrich our future and help preserve our earthly paradise.

Spread the word to change Saturday to Saturnday through all media, contacts, and in every social venue to start dialogs that can open minds and hearts of our earthling friends. Caring for our precious planet and it’s lucky inhabitants will make future generations proud of our time here.

Saturnday can change the world with your help!

— Al (10715) Nagler