50 Fun Facts About Neil DeGrasse Tyson

What is Neil deGrasse Tyson's scientific field?

He has spent his research career on cosmology, stellar evolution and galactic bulges.

Which New York institution did Tyson become director of in 1996?

It sits inside the Rose Center for Earth and Space on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Which 2014 documentary series did Tyson host as a successor to a beloved 1980 PBS original?

Thirteen episodes aired in the first season, and Tyson said he would hand the hosting job to someone else if a second were made.

What is the name of the weekly podcast Tyson began hosting in 2009?

It began as a syndicated Sunday-afternoon radio show that lasted just thirteen weeks before being revived.

In which New York City borough did Tyson grow up?

He lived first in Castle Hill and later in Riverdale, and attended public schools throughout.

Which specialised public institution did Tyson graduate from in 1976, as captain of the wrestling team?

He was also editor-in-chief of the school's Physical Science Journal.

At what age did Neil deGrasse Tyson's interest in astronomy begin, after visiting the Hayden Planetarium?

He later said the imprint of that night sky was so strong that "the universe called me."

Which famous astronomer personally tried to recruit the teenage Tyson to Cornell University?

Sagan invited the 17-year-old to spend a day in Ithaca and offered him a bed for the night if his bus home did not come.

Where did Tyson earn his bachelor's degree in physics in 1980?

He turned down Sagan's Cornell and lived in Currier House, rowing as a freshman before returning to wrestling.

Where did Tyson's first doctoral committee dissolve, ending his PhD attempt there?

By his own account he spent too little time in the lab; he finished a doctorate elsewhere in 1991.

From which university did Tyson receive his PhD in 1991?

His advisor R. Michael Rich secured NASA funding that let him observe from Chile and hire students for data reduction.

Roughly how much did the planetarium reconstruction project Tyson oversaw cost?

The rebuild was completed in 2000 and produced the glass-cube Rose Center that now houses the planetarium.

Which magazine carried Tyson's monthly "Universe" column from 1995 to 2005?

Some of those essays were later collected in his 2007 book Death by Black Hole.

Under what pen name did Tyson answer readers' questions in StarDate magazine?

The column became the books Merlin's Tour of the Universe and Just Visiting This Planet.

What did Tyson name the days when the setting sun aligns with Manhattan's street grid?

He coined it in 1996, inspired by the sun's solstice alignment with Stonehenge, and popularised it in a 2002 column.

Which president appointed Tyson to the 2001 aerospace and 2004 "Moon, Mars, and Beyond" commissions?

Soon afterwards he received the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the agency's highest civilian honour.

Which PBS programme did Tyson host from 2006 to 2011?

He had earlier hosted the four-part Origins miniseries for Nova in 2004.

Which body's demotion is Tyson widely blamed for, his planetarium exhibits refusing to call it the ninth planet?

He says the decision brought him large amounts of hate mail, much of it from children.

In what year did the IAU formally demote the object Tyson's exhibits had already refused to count as a planet?

Tyson later told the whole saga in a 2009 book subtitled The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet.

Which comedian co-hosted Tyson's original 2009 radio talk show?

The show ran thirteen weeks, then returned in December 2010 with Chuck Nice and Leighann Lord as co-hosts.

What was the title of the 2020 follow-up season that Tyson hosted?

Its premiere had been delayed from March 2019 while networks investigated misconduct allegations against him.

Which network launched Tyson's late-night celebrity talk show in April 2015?

On it he interviews pop-culture celebrities about their experiences with science.

Which word came closest to describing his stance on religion, Tyson told Big Think?

He complained that atheists kept editing his Wikipedia page to claim him, so he re-worded it himself.

What academic discipline did Tyson call "useless" on a 2014 Nerdist Podcast episode, drawing criticism?

Philosopher Massimo Pigliucci publicly took him to task for dismissing it.

How much of each U.S. tax dollar did Tyson tell the Senate that NASA's budget represents?

The remark inspired the Penny4NASA campaign, which asks for the budget to be doubled to one percent.

Which host jokingly called Tyson "an absolute monster" in the book I Am America (And So Can You!)?

Tyson was a regular guest on The Colbert Report throughout its run.

Which 2008 documentary included footage Tyson filmed near the World Trade Center on 9/11?

He lived near the towers and wrote a widely circulated letter describing what he saw that day.

In which sci-fi series did Tyson appear as himself alongside Bill Nye in the episode "Brain Storm"?

He also turned up as himself in The Big Bang Theory episode "The Apology Insufficiency".

Which real star did Tyson select for DC Comics as the sun that Superman's home planet Krypton orbited?

He chose it in the constellation Corvus, the Crow, because the crow is the mascot of Smallville High School.

In which 2016 superhero film did Tyson make a minor appearance as himself?

It followed his 2013 turn in Action Comics #14, where he helped locate Krypton.

Which movie-nitpicking YouTube channel had Tyson co-review Gravity, Interstellar and The Martian?

The Gravity review came in June 2014, with Interstellar and The Martian following over the next two years.

On which rapper's 2017 album Everybody does Tyson voice God?

He is credited on the track "AfricAryaN" and uncredited elsewhere on the record.

Which metal band's 2016 album The Stage features a Tyson monologue on the track "Exist"?

The same year he narrated the science documentary Food Evolution.

Which sitcom's final-season opener, 'The Conjugal Configuration', featured Tyson and Nye?

It was his second appearance on the show, eight years after the first.

Tyson's daughter Miranda is named after a moon of which planet?

Miranda is the smallest of that planet's five major moons; Tyson met his wife Alice Young in a physics class in Texas.

What does Tyson collect, a hobby profiled in a specialist magazine in 2000 and again in 2005?

His cellar has been written up in Wine Spectator and The World of Fine Wine.

What honour did People magazine give Tyson in 2000?

The following year the IAU renamed asteroid 1994KA as 13123 Tyson.

What kind of creature is Indirana tysoni, named after Tyson in 2016?

It was described by a team of Indian herpetologists led by Neelesh Dahanukar.

Which of Tyson's books earned a 2018 Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word Album?

The slim 2017 bestseller was built partly from his old Natural History essays.

Which National Academy of Sciences honour did Tyson receive in 2015 for popularising science?

The National Geographic Society gave him its Hubbard Medal two years later.

Which ship carried 14-year-old Tyson to the June 1973 solar eclipse alongside Neil Armstrong?

The Explorers Club of New York gave him a scholarship for the cruise, which carried two thousand scientists and enthusiasts.

At which Chilean site did Tyson observe for his thesis, gathering images for a supernova survey?

The Calán/Tololo survey helped establish Type Ia supernovae as standard candles, the yardstick that later revealed dark energy.

Besides wrestling and rowing, which activity was Tyson active in as an undergraduate?

His dance styles included jazz, ballet, Afro-Caribbean and Latin ballroom.

What was the profession of Tyson's father, Cyril deGrasse Tyson?

He served as human resource commissioner under Mayor John Lindsay and ran Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited.

Tyson's middle name comes from his paternal grandmother, who was born on which Caribbean island?

Altima de Grasse was born in the British West Indies; his mother's family is Puerto Rican.

In which Harvard residence did Tyson live as a physics undergraduate?

He rowed as a freshman, then returned to wrestling and lettered in his senior year.

Where was Tyson a lecturer in astronomy from 1986 to 1987?

In 1988 he was accepted into Columbia's astronomy graduate programme.

In which year was asteroid 1994KA renamed 13123 Tyson in his honour?

The International Astronomical Union approved the renaming.

Which four-part PBS Nova miniseries did Tyson host in 2004?

He co-wrote the companion volume, subtitled Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution, with Donald Goldsmith.

In which Lower Manhattan neighbourhood does Tyson live with his wife Alice Young?

The couple have two children, Miranda and Travis.