Dear TNVC Community,
Today, we pause to honor the life and legacy of a true pioneer in our industry and a cherished friend of TNVC, Al Nagler, founder of Tele Vue Optics.
Many in the astronomy and optical world know Al as a visionary, a master of glass, and a man whose passion for exploring the night sky changed how generations experience it. But fewer know the remarkable beginning of that journey: Al designed the first Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) simulator optics for NASA’s Apollo 11 program, helping prepare astronauts to land on the Moon. His work literally helped train the first humans who walked among the stars and that spirit of exploration never left him.
What made Al special wasn’t just his engineering brilliance. It was the joy he carried with him into every conversation about technology, lenses, or the science of seeing. If you ever had the privilege of speaking with him about his eyepieces, you know exactly what we mean, the energy, the curiosity, the excitement. Al didn’t just make optics; he inspired people to look up, to explore, and to fall in love with the night sky.
For us at TNVC, this loss hits close to home. Tele Vue and TNVC have always shared a uniquely special relationship, one that began the moment Al connected with TNVC’s founder, Vic DiCosola. It was a meeting of minds driven by admiration for innovation and a shared passion for the night. That relationship grew over the years into mutual respect, collaboration, and genuine friendship.
Some of our community may remember the special PVS-14 unit we built for Al, a testament to his enthusiasm for night vision technology and how much he embraced the blending of astronomy with modern NV capabilities. Al loved night vision not as a novelty, but as a tool to bring the universe closer, to open up the skies to others who had yet to experience them in such a vivid way. His excitement was contagious, and we’ve always made it a point to pay that forward to this community.
Al lived his life with the imagination of a dreamer, the precision of an engineer, and the heart of a teacher. His influence can be found in telescopes across the world, in the lives he touched, and in every moment of awe someone experiences when looking through a Tele Vue optic, whether at the Moon, the Milky Way, or the vast dark skies enhanced through night vision.
On behalf of the entire TNVC team and family:
Thank you, Al.
Thank you for your friendship, your mentorship, your brilliance, and your love for the skies.
Thank you for showing us that vision is more than what the eye can see, it’s what the mind dares to explore.
We invite our community to take a moment tonight, whether you’re under the stars, behind a telescope, or looking through a night vision device, to remember the man who helped so many of us fall in love with the night.
Clear skies, and green nights.
With respect,
The TNVC Team
“20 Years of Bringing Light to the Darkness”
FOG HORN 