[3] Johnson, who had a strong interest in amateur astronomy, originally created Celestron as the "Astro-Optical" division of Valor Electronics in 1960.
[2] He was visiting his brother in Costa Mesa, California when he came upon his nephew, Roger, trying to grind the 6 inch diameter lens he purchased from the clearance table at a local hobby shop.
On July 28, 1962, he publicly unveiled a new invention, a portable 18+3⁄4-inch Cassegrain telescope, at the party held by the Los Angeles Astronomical Society on Mount Pinos.
[2] However, the Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope proved difficult to mass-produce because the models needed Schmidt corrector plate, an advanced aspheric lens, which could be hard to manufacture.
[2] Johnson's new telescope proved very popular in the amateur astronomy and educational industries, allowing the hobby to rapidly expand and reach more consumers.