A Personal Story

While I was in high school, my science teacher, Dave Simpson, invited the class to come to his house one evening to observe the Mars opposition through his telescopes. I was the only student who showed up.

That night, he showed me Mars, Saturn, the double star Albireo, the Andromeda Galaxy, and the Ring Nebula. Each object was impressive, but one moment stood above all the others.

When I saw the rings of Saturn for the first time, I remember thinking, “Wow — everybody has got to see this.”

That single experience planted a seed that never really went away.

Coming Full Circle

Many years later, knowing my continued love for astronomy, Dave offered to sell me my first telescope — a 1970s Celestron orange tube C8 — for far less than its market value.

It was the very telescope I had first seen Saturn through all those years ago.

I still own that telescope today, and it remains one of the instruments we use for outreach events. There’s something special about watching someone see Saturn for the first time through the same optics that sparked my own curiosity decades earlier.

Why We Do Outreach

Telescope Guys exists because of moments like that — quiet, unexpected, and powerful. A single look through a telescope can change how someone sees the universe and their place in it.

Our goal isn’t just to show people objects in the sky. It’s to share that feeling of wonder, to create experiences that stick with people long after the telescope is packed away.

None of this would have happened without a teacher who was willing to open his door, share his time, and point a telescope skyward for one curious student.

In many ways, every outreach event we host is a small way of paying that forward.