Neil deGrasse Tyson (US: /dəˈɡræs/ də-GRASS or UK: /dəˈɡrɑːs/ də-GRAHSS; born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator.

From 1995 to 2005, Tyson wrote monthly essays in the "Universe" column for Natural History magazine, some of which were later published in his books Death by Black Hole (2007) and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry (2017).

During the same period, he wrote a monthly column in StarDate magazine, answering questions about the universe under the pen name "Merlin".

[4][5] His African-American father, Cyril deGrasse Tyson (1927–2016), was a sociologist and human resource commissioner for New York City mayor John Lindsay, and the first director of Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited.

[6][7] His mother, Sunchita Maria Tyson (née Feliciano; 1928–2023), was a gerontologist for the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare and is of Puerto Rican descent.

"[14] During high school, Tyson attended astronomy courses offered by the Hayden Planetarium, which he called "the most formative period" of his life.

He credited Mark Chartrand III, director of the planetarium at the time, as his "first intellectual role model" and his enthusiastic teaching style mixed with humor inspired Tyson to communicate the universe to others the way he did.

[15] When he was 14, he received a scholarship from the Explorers Club of New York to view the June 1973 total solar eclipse aboard the SS Canberra.

The scientific cruise carried two thousand scientists, engineers, and enthusiasts, including Neil Armstrong, Scott Carpenter, and Isaac Asimov.

As director of the Hayden Planetarium, Tyson bucked traditional thinking in order to keep Pluto from being referred to as the ninth planet in exhibits at the center.

He has stated on The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, and BBC Horizon that the decision has resulted in large amounts of hate mail, much of it from children.

Tyson recounted the heated online debate on the Cambridge Conference Network (CCNet), a "widely read, UK-based Internet chat group", following Benny Peiser's renewed call for reclassification of Pluto's status.

The show lasted for thirteen weeks, but was resurrected in December 2010 and then, co-hosted with comedians Chuck Nice and Leighann Lord instead of Koplitz.

He and James Randi delivered a lecture entitled Skepticism, which related directly with the convention's theme of The Democratization of Information: Power, Peril, and Promise.

[54][55] On April 20, 2015, Tyson began hosting a late-night talk show entitled StarTalk on the National Geographic Channel, where he interviews pop culture celebrities and asks them about their life experiences with science.

"[64][65]: 341  In an interview with Big Think, he said: "So, what people are really after is what is my stance on religion or spirituality or God, and I would say if I find a word that came closest, it would be 'agnostic'... at the end of the day I'd rather not be any category at all.

"[66] Additionally, in the same interview with Big Think, Tyson mentioned that he edited Wikipedia's entry on him to include the fact that he is an agnostic: I'm constantly claimed by atheists.

Tyson replied: "I remain unconvinced by any claims anyone has ever made about the existence or the power of a divine force operating in the universe."

"[75] In a 2014 interview with Grantland, Tyson said that he related his experience on that 2005 panel in an effort to make the point that the scientific question about genetic differences can not be answered until the social barriers are dismantled.

For twice that—a penny on a dollar—we can transform the country from a sullen, dispirited nation, weary of economic struggle, to one where it has reclaimed its 20th century birthright to dream of tomorrow.

He has also appeared as the keynote speaker at The Amazing Meeting, a science and skepticism conference hosted by the James Randi Educational Foundation.

[98] In Action Comics #14 (January 2013), which was published November 7, 2012, Tyson appears in the story, in which he determines that Superman's home planet, Krypton, orbited the red dwarf LHS 2520 in the constellation Corvus 27.1 lightyears from Earth.

[109] In 2016, Tyson narrated and was a script supervisor for the science documentary Food Evolution, directed by Academy Award–nominated director Scott Hamilton Kennedy.

[110] In the same year, Tyson made a guest appearance on the Avenged Sevenfold album The Stage, where he delivered a monolog on the track "Exist".

In 2018, Tyson made a second guest appearance on The Big Bang Theory as himself, together with fellow television personality Bill Nye, in the first episode of the show's final season ("The Conjugal Configuration").

[114] He also had guest appearances in Gravity Falls, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Zoolander 2, Ice Age: Collision Course, Family Guy, BoJack Horseman, The Simpsons, Salvation and Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?.Tyson lives in the Tribeca neighborhood[115] of Lower Manhattan with his wife, Alice Young.

[121][122][123] Thchiya Amet El Maat accused Tyson of drugging and raping her while both were graduate students at UT Austin in 1984.

[124] Katelyn Allers, a professor at Bucknell University, alleged Tyson touched her inappropriately at a 2009 American Astronomical Society gathering.

[127] A fourth anonymous woman alleged Tyson made inappropriate comments to her during a 2010 holiday party at the American Museum of Natural History.

[121] Tyson denied El Maat's rape accusation, while corroborating the basic facts around the situation of Allers and Watson's assertions, but claimed his actions were misinterpreted and apologized for any misunderstanding or offense.