Meaningful Moments

Over the years, my telescopes and I have wandered through the cosmic ocean, a journey measured not in light years, but in moments of profound connection. Each glimmer of starlight captured is a conversation, a lesson, a shared gasp of wonder. Here you'll find some of those moments - memories, reflections, and the kind words of others - that remind me why sharing the sky matters.

Memorable Moments

Constellation Logic
As I was teaching some Tiger Scouts (6-7 year olds) about constellations, I mentioned Scorpius the Scorpion and asked if they kenw why it was visible in summer skies, but not winter skies. One girl piped up, "Because scorpions only come out when it's hot!"
Counting the Cluster
While looking at an open cluster containing hundreds of stars, a young girl said, "Wow, I see lots of stars!" I asked her how many stars she saw. She began counting: "One...Two...Three... Four..." A couple minutes later, she was still counting and I had to tell her time was up because others were waiting in line.
Moon Landing Memories
At an event where we had multiple telescopes pointed on the Moon because not much else was visible at the time, I decided to put in a little more powerful eyepiece to give folks a closer view. While I had the telescope zoomed in on the Moon, I pointed out the Apollo 11 landing site to the visitors. One elderly gentleman thanked me for showing the landing site, stating that he had watched Neil Armstrong land on the Moon and always wondered where it was. He sounded almost in tears. I'll never know what special memory this held for him, but I felt honored to help him out. [StarLog - Planetpalooza]
Camera for Crowds
At one star party, I attached my phone to the eyepiece with an adapter to show the planets to several people at once. I used the manual camera settings to adjust the brightness and contrast of the twilight sky, as well as the zoom, so everyone would get the best view possible. One of the women came up to me and said she had vision trouble and it was difficult to see through the eyepiece of the other telescopes, so she was really happy she could look through my camera to see things. That's something good to know for future outreaches. [StarLog - Beautiful Abilities]
Mending Misconceptions
During one cloudy school STEM night, several kids tried to look the wrong way through the finderscope, and others thought that if my eyepiece was pointing down, that meant the telescope was pointed downward, too. These are understandable, as most have never looked through a telescope before. But the real surprising one was several adults who didn't realize that we wouldn't be able to see stars in a telescope if the sky was overcast. My work is clearly cut out for me. [StarLog - Overcast Outreach]
Canine Copernicus
During a star party in a public park, one of the highlights of the night for me personally was a young girl coming to look at Venus through my telescope. She looked through the eyepiece and noted how pretty it was. She then picked up her small dog and held his eye to the telescope so he could see, too. Her dad said, "Yes, he sees it and I'm sure he thinks it is very pretty. Now put him down and let someone else take a peek." These sorts of things are what make public outings so great. [StarLog - Party in the Park]
Party Pooper
At one point during the evening, being told she would be attending a telescope party, a little girl declared loudly, "this sure isn't much of a party!" [StarLog - Goodies at the Gott]
Glasses and Giggles
One little 4-year-old girl really liked NGC-457 (the E.T. Cluster). She asked me to show her "the alien" two or three different times throughout the evening. At one point, she commented on how big its eyes were. She and I both wore glasses, so I told her that maybe the alien's eyes looked so big because it was wearing glasses, too. She giggled, and then wandered off again for a few minutes before returning for another peek. [StarLog - Mars Watch]

Testimonials

"Thank you for sharing your passion and expertise with your community." ~ NASA STEM Engagement Networks
Thank you for all you have done for the club and the community with your outstanding outreach events." ~ Brazos Valley Astronomy Club
"We really appreciate you coming out and sharing your expertise with our kiddos. They are always filled with the most awe & wonder and it thrills me!" ~ Rock Prairie Elementary
"I would like to extend my appreciation to you for providing our cadets with an outstanding and timely presentation in support of our aerospace education program." ~ Civil Air Patrol
"Your time, expertise, and amazing contributions made a lasting impression and our event was truly out of this world because of YOU!" ~ Forest Ridge STEAM Team
"I just wanted to say thank you again for participating in our STEM night! We appreciate it more than you know! You were a HUGE hit!! The kids are STILL talking about you!" ~ Greens Prairie Elementary
"Wow! What a night! Our students and families had a BLAST! I was greeted with enthusiastic students telling me all about the cool things they saw last night. There aren't enough words to express our appreciation for your participation. Thank you!" ~ River Bend Elementary
"I really appreciate the fact that you came out to meet us. I'm sure so much inspiration was sparked in the kiddos!" ~ LeeAnn, Tiger Scouts Den Leader
"Thanks again for generously spending time with us viewing planets, the moon, stars, and Andromeda. They were beautiful to behold. Several of our Trailmen were quite interested in what they saw. I think your demo made a good impression on them." ~ Charles, Trail Life troop

Awards

Astronomical League
Master Outreach Award - 2023
Planetary Transit Award - 2016
Binocular Messier Award - 2004
Double Star Award - 2003
Gold Messier Award - 2002
Brazos Valley Astronomy Club
Outstanding Service as Outreach Coordinator - 2025
NASA Night Sky Network
Exceptional Outreach Award - 2017-2024
Civil Air Patrol
Certificate of Appreciation - 2020
NASA
Eclipse Certificate of Appreciation - 2017