Astronomer, 82, Sets Up Telescope In Middle Of New York Street To Show People What Saturn Looks Like

An 82-year-old astronomer, Joe Delfausse, is winning hearts on the internet after he drew a crowd in the middle of Brooklyn street by sharing his telescope. The amateur astronomer carries his telescope out into the streets on clear evenings so that everyone passing by can take a look at the cosmos.

A video going viral on the internet shows a large group of people waiting in line to peer through Mr Delfausse's telescope to catch a glimpse of Saturn. The video shows each person dipping their head to gaze into the lens.

In an interview with The Guardian, Mr Delfausse said, "I can show them the heavens."

"All of a sudden, they drop their guard," he said. "They're talking to the people in front and behind them. I guess we're all starved for connection, and when you see someone's eyes widen because they've never seen anything like that, you feel like you've made a difference," he told the media outlet.

The viral video was captured by Daphne Juliet Ellis, a 26-year-old musician who uploaded it on TikTok. She told the Guardian, "He was really this kind of Zen Buddha in the space, shepherding a bunch of hippie kids who just got out of a concert."

Mr Delfausse has owned a home in the neighbourhood since 1976. He was born on Long Island and attended Cornell University. As an adult, he moved to Manhattan before settling in Brooklyn. He worked at Citibank before becoming a math and computer science teacher.

Telling the media outlet how he got hooked to the cosmos, he shared that he happened to strike up a conversation with a man at a photo shop, who invited him to a meeting of the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York.

"The main thing I do is bring out my telescope where I know there are going to be people, so I can show them the heavens," he said.

"I'm in my 80s, and you want to do something meaningful in your life," Delfausse, a former math and computer science teacher, told the outlet.

"I can't think of anything that's more meaningful than this kind of stargazing with people."