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Neil deGrasse Tyson “Starry Messenger” Author Book Tour and Signed Book Options

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Henry Holt and Co. (September 20, 2022) Neil deGrasse Tyson “Starry Messenger”. If you are not able to attend the October 19th book tour event listed below and you’d still like to obtain a signed copy, there is good news. We will be offering a new slip-cased signed collector’s edition that will be available for pre-order soon.  Sign up below to get the news and the pre-order link when it goes live:

Neil deGrasse Tyson in Conversation with Gayle King: Starry Messenger

Date: October 19th.

Location: 92NY CENTER FOR CULTURE & ARTS

Join renowned astrophysicist, bestselling author and one of the most popular figures in modern science, Neil deGrasse Tyson, when he discusses his new book Starry Messenger.

Get in-person tickets.

About the Book

Bringing his cosmic perspective to civilization on Earth, Neil deGrasse Tyson shines new light on the crucial fault lines of our time?war, politics, religion, truth, beauty, gender, and race?in a way that stimulates a deeper sense of unity for us all.

In a time when our political and cultural views feel more polarized than ever, Tyson provides a much-needed antidote to so much of what divides us, while making a passionate case for the twin chariots of enlightenment?a cosmic perspective and the rationality of science.

After thinking deeply about how science sees the world and about Earth as a planet, the human brain has the capacity to reset and recalibrates life’s priorities, shaping the actions we might take in response. No outlook on culture, society, or civilization remains untouched.

With crystalline prose, Starry Messenger walks us through the scientific palette that sees and paints the world differently. From insights on resolving global conflict to reminders of how precious it is to be alive, Tyson reveals, with warmth and eloquence, an array of brilliant and beautiful truths that apply to us all, informed and enlightened by knowledge of our place in the universe.

“Every page is lit up by an original poetic imagination but bearing the unmistakable stamp of a rational mind, steeped in maths and science.” -Richard Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion

About The Author

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. Tyson studied at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia University. From 1991 to 1994, he was a postdoctoral research associate at Princeton University. In 1994, he joined the Hayden Planetarium as a staff scientist and the Princeton faculty as a visiting research scientist and lecturer. In 1996, he became director of the planetarium and oversaw its $210 million reconstruction project, which was completed in 2000. Since 1996, he has been the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York City. The center is part of the American Museum of Natural History, where Tyson founded the Department of Astrophysics in 1997 and has been a research associate in the department since 2003.

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”. Material from the column appeared in his books Merlin’s Tour of the Universe (1998) and Just Visiting This Planet (1998). Tyson served on a 2001 government commission on the future of the U.S. aerospace industry and on the 2004 Moon, Mars and Beyond commission. He was awarded the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal in the same year. From 2006 to 2011, he hosted the television show NOVA ScienceNow on PBS. Since 2009, Tyson has hosted the weekly podcast StarTalk. A spin-off, also called StarTalk, began airing on National Geographic in 2015. In 2014, he hosted the television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, a successor to Carl Sagan’s 1980 series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage.

The U.S. National Academy of Sciences awarded Tyson the Public Welfare Medal in 2015 for his “extraordinary role in exciting the public about the wonders of science”.

• Neil deGrasse Tyson
• Starry Messenger

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• Broadmoor World Arena
• World Arena Ice Hall

Neil deGrasse Tyson

An astrophysicist goes to the movies.

This is a AXS Mobile ID event. Click here for more info.  

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Ticket Price

Neil deGrasse Tyson is coming to Colorado Springs on November 13, 2024 at 7:30pm. Tickets, which range in price from $49.50 to $299.50 plus applicable fees, go on sale on Friday, December 8, at 10am and are available online at AXS.com or in person at the Pikes Peak Center box office.

Want the venue presale code? Subscribe to The Backstage Pass newsletter by Tuesday, 12/5, at 5pm. Sign up located at PikesPeakCenter.com/Newsletter.

A message from Neil deGrasse Tyson about what to expect at the show!  

About Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson was born and raised in New York City where he was educated in the public schools clear through his graduation from the Bronx High School of Science. Tyson went on to earn his BA in Physics from Harvard and his PhD in Astrophysics from Columbia.

In 2001, Tyson was appointed by President Bush to serve on a twelve-member commission that studied the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry. The final report was published in 2002 and contained recommendations (for Congress and for the major agencies of the government) that would promote a thriving future of transportation, space exploration, and national security.

In 2004, Tyson was once again appointed by President Bush to serve on a nine-member commission on the Implementation of the United States Space Exploration Policy, dubbed the “Moon, Mars, and Beyond” commission. This group navigated a path by which the new space vision can become a successful part of the American agenda. And in 2006, the head of NASA appointed Tyson to serve on its prestigious Advisory Council, which guides NASA through its perennial need to fit ambitious visions into restricted budgets.

In addition to dozens of professional publications, Dr. Tyson has written, and continues to write for the public. From 1995 to 2005, Tyson was a monthly essayist for Natural History magazine under the title Universe. And among Tyson’s fifteen books is his memoir The Sky is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist; and Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution, co-written with Donald Goldsmith. Origins is the companion book to the PBS NOVA four-part mini-series Origins, in which Tyson served as on-camera host. The program premiered in September 2004.

Two of Tyson’s other books are the playful and informative: Death By Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries, which was a New York Times bestseller, and The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet, chronicling his experience at the center of the controversy over Pluto’s planetary status. The PBS NOVA documentary The Pluto Files, based on the book, premiered in March 2010.

In February 2012, Tyson released his tenth book, containing every thought he has ever had on the past, present, and future of space exploration: Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier.

For five seasons, beginning in the fall of 2006, Tyson appeared as the on-camera host of PBS NOVA’s spinoff program NOVA ScienceNOW, which is an accessible look at the frontier of all the science that shapes the understanding of our place in the universe.

During the summer of 2009 Tyson identified a cadre of professional standup comedians to assist his effort in bringing science to commercial radio with the NSF-funded pilot program StarTalk. Now also a popular Podcast, for three years it enjoyed a limited-run Television Series on the National Geographic Channel. StarTalk combines celebrity guests with informative yet playful banter. The target audience is all those people who never thought they would, or could, like science. In its first year on television and in three successive seasons, it was nominated for a Best Informational Programming Emmy.

Tyson is the recipient of twenty-three honorary doctorates and the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest award given by NASA to a non-government citizen. His contributions to the public appreciation of the cosmos have been recognized by the International Astronomical Union in their official naming of asteroid “13123 Tyson.” And by zoologists, with the naming of Indirani Tysoni, a native species of leaping frog in India. On the lighter side, Tyson was voted “Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive” by People Magazine in 2000.

In 2017, Tyson published Astrophysics for People In A Hurry, which was a domestic and international bestseller. This adorably readable book is an introduction to all that you’ve read and heard about that’s making news in the universe—consummated, in one place, succinctly presented, for people in a hurry.

That was followed in 2018 by Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military, coauthored with Avis Lang, in 2019 by Letters from an Astrophysicist, both New York Times Bestsellers, and in 2021 by Cosmic Queries: StarTalk’s Guide to Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We are Going, coauthored with James Trefil.

Tyson served as Executive Science Editor and on-camera Host & Narrator for Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey, the 21stcentury continuation of Carl Sagan’s landmark television series. The show began in March 2014 and ran thirteen episodes in primetime on the FOX network, and appeared in 181 countries in 45 languages around the world on the National Geographic Channels. Cosmos won four Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, two Critics Choice awards, as well as a dozen other industry recognitions. Tyson reprised his role as on-camera host for the next season of Cosmos—Cosmos: Possible Worlds, which premiered on the National Geographic Channel in March 2020 and on the FOX network in September 2020.

Tyson’s latest books are Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization and To Infinity and Beyond: A Journey of Cosmic Discovery, coauthored with Lindsey Nyx Walker, both New York Times bestsellers.

Tyson is the fifth head of the world-renowned Hayden Planetarium in New York City and the first occupant of its Frederick P. Rose Directorship. He is also a research associate of the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History.

Neil deGrasse Tyson lives in New York City with his wife, a former IT project manager with Bloomberg Financial Markets.

• Wednesday, November 13, 2024 at 7:30 PM CAL

• AT&T PAC

AT&T Performing Arts Center Presents

Neil deGrasse Tyson

This Just In: Latest Discoveries in the Universe

Learn about recent breakthroughs in the world of science with the famous astrophysicist.

Winspear Opera House

In 2001, Tyson was appointed by President Bush to serve on a twelve-member commission that studied the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry. The  final report  was published in 2002 and contained recommendations (for Congress and for the major agencies of the government) that would promote a thriving future of transportation, space exploration, and national security.

In 2004, Tyson was once again appointed by President Bush to serve on a nine-member commission on the Implementation of the United States Space Exploration Policy, dubbed the  “Moon, Mars, and Beyond”  commission. This group navigated a path by which the new space vision can become a successful part of the American agenda. And in 2006, the head of NASA appointed Tyson to serve on its prestigious Advisory Council, which guides NASA through its perennial need to fit ambitious visions into restricted budgets.

In addition to dozens of  professional publications , Dr. Tyson has written, and continues to write for the public. From 1995 to 2005, Tyson was a monthly essayist for  Natural History  magazine under the title  Universe . And among Tyson’s fifteen books is his memoir  The Sky is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist ; and  Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution , co-written with Donald Goldsmith. Origins is the companion book to the PBS NOVA four-part mini-series  Origins , in which Tyson served as on-camera host. The program premiered in September 2004.

Two of Tyson’s other books are the playful and informative  Death By Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries , which was a  New York Times  bestseller, and  The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet , chronicling his experience at the center of the controversy over Pluto’s planetary status. The PBS NOVA documentary  The Pluto Files , based on the book, premiered in March 2010.

In February 2012, Tyson released his tenth book, containing every thought he has ever had on the past, present, and future of space exploration:  Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier .

For five seasons, beginning in the fall of 2006, Tyson appeared as the on-camera host of PBS NOVA’s spinoff program  NOVA ScienceNOW , which is an accessible look at the frontier of all the science that shapes the understanding of our place in the universe.

During the summer of 2009 Tyson identified a cadre of professional standup comedians to assist his effort in bringing science to commercial radio with the NSF-funded pilot program StarTalk. Now also a popular  Podcast , for three years it enjoyed a limited-run  Television Series  on the National Geographic Channel. StarTalk combines celebrity guests with informative yet playful banter. The target audience is all those people who never thought they would, or could, like science. In its first year on television and in three successive seasons, it was nominated for a Best Informational Programming Emmy.

Tyson is the recipient of twenty-three honorary doctorates and the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest award given by NASA to a non-government citizen. His contributions to the public appreciation of the cosmos have been recognized by the International Astronomical Union in their official naming of asteroid “13123 Tyson.” And by zoologists, with the naming of  Indirani Tysoni , a native species of leaping frog in India. On the lighter side, Tyson was voted “Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive” by  People Magazine  in 2000.

In 2017, Tyson published  Astrophysics for People In A Hurry , which was a domestic and international bestseller. This adorably readable book is an introduction to all that you’ve read and heard about that’s making news in the universe—consummated, in one place, succinctly presented, for people in a hurry.

That was followed in 2018 by  Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military , coauthored with Avis Lang, in 2019 by  Letters from an Astrophysicist , both New York Times Bestsellers, and in 2021 by  Cosmic Queries: StarTalk’s Guide to Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We are Going , coauthored with James Trefil.

Tyson served as Executive Science Editor and on-camera Host & Narrator for  Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey , the 21 st century continuation of Carl Sagan’s landmark television series. The show began in March 2014 and ran thirteen episodes in primetime on the FOX network, and appeared in 181 countries in 45 languages around the world on the National Geographic Channels.  Cosmos  won four Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, two Critics Choice awards, as well as a dozen other industry recognitions. Tyson reprised his role as on-camera host for the next season of Cosmos— Cosmos: Possible Worlds , which premiered on the National Geographic Channel in March 2020 and on the FOX network in September 2020.

Tyson’s latest books are  Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization and To Infinity and Beyond: A Journey of Cosmic Discovery , coauthored with Lindsey Nyx Walker, both  New York Times  bestsellers.

Tyson is the fifth head of the world-renowned  Hayden Planetarium  in New York City and the first occupant of its Frederick P. Rose Directorship. He is also a research associate of the  Department of Astrophysics  at the American Museum of Natural History.

Neil deGrasse Tyson lives in New York City with his wife, a former IT project manager with Bloomberg Financial Markets.

Complete Your Evening With These Add-On Options:

• Pre-purchase convenient valet or self-parking in the Lexus Red Parking facility.
• Skyline Terrace  – Enjoy a catered buffet meal that has been specially paired with the evening’s show.
• Grand Tier Prix Fixe Dining  – Elevate your pre-show dining experience with a 4-course, chef-prepared meal in an upscale setting with sweeping views of the Dallas Arts District.

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TLC Book Tours

The Sky's The Limit...

Neil DeGrasse Tyson, author of COSMIC QUERIES, on tour May 2022

April 19, 2022 By Sara Strand Leave a Comment

About  Cosmic Queries

• Publisher : National Geographic (March 2, 2021) • Hardcover : 312 Pages

In this thought-provoking follow-up to his acclaimed  StarTalk book, uber astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson tackles the world’s most important philosophical questions about the universe with wit, wisdom, and cutting-edge science.

For science geeks, space and physics nerds, and all who want to understand their place in the universe, this enlightening new book from Neil deGrasse Tyson offers a unique take on the mysteries and curiosities of the cosmos, building on rich material from his beloved StarTalk podcast.

In these illuminating pages, illustrated with dazzling photos and revealing graphics, Tyson and co-author James Trefil, a renowned physicist and science popularizer, take on the big questions that humanity has been posing for millennia–How did life begin? What is our place in the universe? Are we alone?–and provide answers based on the most current data, observations, and theories.

Populated with paradigm-shifting discoveries that help explain the building blocks of astrophysics, this relatable and entertaining book will engage and inspire readers of all ages, bring sophisticated concepts within reach, and offer a window into the complexities of the cosmos. For all who loved National Geographic’s  StarTalk  with Neil deGrasse Tyson,  Cosmos: Possible Worlds,  and  Space Atlas,  this new book will take them on more journeys into the wonders of the universe and beyond.

Social Media

Please use the hashtag #CosmicQueries, and tag @tlcbooktours and @startalkradio.

Purchase Links

National geographic | amazon | barnes & noble, about neil degrasse tyson.

Legendary astrophysicist NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON is the host of the popular podcast StarTalk Radio and Emmy award-winning National Geographic Channel shows  StarTalk  and  Cosmos . He earned his BA in physics from Harvard and his Ph.D. in astrophysics from Columbia. The author of more than a dozen books, including the best-selling  Astrophysics for People in a Hurry , Tyson is the first Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children.

Follow him on  Instagram ,  Twitter , Facebook , and TikTok .

Review Stops

Monday, April 25th: Instagram: @books_and_biewers

Thursday, April 28th: Instagram: @spaceonthebookcase

Monday, May 2nd: Instagram: @jena.reads

Tuesday, May 3rd: Instagram: @nurse_bookie

Thursday, May 5th: Instagram: @lizziepagereads

Monday, May 9th: Instagram: @sarahs.bookish.reviews

Tuesday, May 10th: Instagram: @juliereads

Thursday, May 12th: Instagram: @laurasnextchapter

Monday, May 16th: Instagram: @aimeedarsreads

Wednesday, May 18th: Instagram: @beeisforbooks

Thursday, May 19th: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Tuesday, May 24th: Jathan & Heather

Wednesday, May 25th: Instagram: @the.caffeinated.reader

Thursday, May 26th: Instagram: @amy_alwaysreading

Friday, May 27th: Instagram: @booknerdwatercolor

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Neil deGrasse Tyson

2024 wed 19 jun 7:30 pm Neil deGrasse Tyson Astronomy Bizarre

Get Tickets

(Wednesday) 7:30 pm (GMT-05:00)

701 W. Riverside Dr.

Event Details

UPDATE:  Due to rain in the forecast, the stargazing event on the H-E-B Terrace after the show has been cancelled.  The event inside Dell Hall with Neil deGrasse

UPDATE:  Due to rain in the forecast, the stargazing event on the H-E-B Terrace after the show has been cancelled.  The event inside Dell Hall with Neil deGrasse Tyson will continue as planned.  

Award-winning astrophysicist and author Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson returns to the Long Center to discuss Astronomy Bizarre, all the cool things in the universe that are weird, interesting, and occasionally scary — black holes, dark matter, dark energy, diamond stars, gamma ray bursts, white holes, worm holes, multiverses, and more. Prepare to review all that bends the mind the most in the cosmos.

Brought to you by Long Center Presents with support from Baker Botts .

Member Lounge

All Long Center Members and their guests have access to the Member Lounge before and during the show. The Lounge includes access to a private bar and the West Pincer Terrace with skyline views of downtown Austin. Please stop by the Member Lounge, hosted by Baker Botts, for a chance to discover more about astronomy with a special pre-show talk at 00:00pm from astrophysicists, Nika Jurlin, PhD and Simon Gazagnes, PhD on Gravitational lensing: Looking through a giant magnifying glass. Enjoy drink sampling from Empress Gin, complimentary chips from Siete Foods and complimentary popcorn. Hope to see you there!   Learn about Membership

VIP Experience

Join an exclusive Q&A session with Dr. Tyson after the show! Look for this option when selecting your tickets which includes:

• Premium seat
• 30-minute exclusive group Q&A session
• Photos of this intimate experience, including a group selfie with Dr. Tyson

What To Expect

• This is an indoor event.
• All patrons, regardless of age, require a ticket to attend the performance.
• Prohibited items include but are not limited to: Outside food or drinks, weapons of any kind including pocket knives, Professional cameras (cameras with detachable lenses), Video cameras, illegal or illicit items of any kind, tents, vending of any kind and soliciting of any kind.
• Animals and pets are not permitted except for properly identified service animals.

Questions?  Email   our 3M Box Office or hit us up on social media at any time. You can also call the 3M Box Office at (512) 474-LONG (5664) or TTY (800) 735-2989 and get your questions answered right away.

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Our place in the universe

“when you are born, you become a citizen of the universe.”, “it behooves you to look around and get curious about your surroundings.”, stars, planets, and life, “we’re quite small—cosmically insignificant.”, how big is the universe, what is our fate, what are we made of, are we special, where is everybody.

At New York City’s Rose Center of Earth and Space, we display a timeline spiral of the Universe that begins at the Big Bang and unfolds 13.8 billion years. Uncurled, it’s the length of a football field. Every step you take spans 50 million years. You get to the end of the ramp, and you ask, where are we? Where is the history of our human species? The entire period of time, from a trillion seconds ago to today, from graffiti-prone cave dwellers until now, occupies only the thickness of a single strand of human hair, which we have mounted at the end of that timeline. You think we live long lives, you think civilizations last a long time, but not from the view of the cosmos itself.

As unsettling as it may be, the data show that we’re on a one-way trip. We were birthed by the Big Bang, and we’re going to expand forever. The temperature is going to continue to drop, eventually becoming 2 K, then 1 K, then half a kelvin, asymptotically approaching absolute zero. … The stars will finish fusing all their thermonuclear fuel, and one by one they will die out, disappearing from the sky. … This keeps going until all the lights of the galaxy turn off, one by one. The galaxy goes dark. The universe goes dark. Black holes are left, emitting only a feeble glow of light. … And the cosmos ends. Not with a bang, but with a whimper.

Our star, and most stars, are made mostly of hydrogen, which is the number one element in the universe: 90% of all atomic nuclei are hydrogen, about 8% are helium, and the remaining 2% comprise all the other elements in the periodic table. All the hydrogen and most of the helium are traceable to the Big Bang, along with a smidgen of lithium. The rest of the elements were later forged in stars. If you are a big fan of the argument that somehow life on Earth is special, then you must contend with an important fact: if I rank the top five elements in the universe—hydrogen, helium, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen—they look a lot like the ingredients of the human body.

Our galaxy has 300 billion stars, many of them likely surrounded by planets of their own. How important are we in this picture? We’re quite small—cosmically insignificant. A depressing revelation for some, who would prefer to feel large. The problem is history. Every time we make an argument that we’re special in the cosmos, either that we are in the center or that the whole universe revolves around us, or that we are made of special ingredients, or that we’ve been around since the beginning, we learn that the opposite is true. In fact, we occupy a humble corner of the galaxy, which occupies its own humble corner in the universe. Every astrophysicist lives with that reality.

Because we are alive, we harbor a special interest in life in the universe. If we are to look around the universe and wonder whether some particular star has planets orbiting it, and whether those planets could have life, it’s sensible to shape questions based on life as we know it—life on Earth. … Based on everything we know about life, we think life needs a planet. It’s going to need a planet orbiting a star. You have to make the star, and then the planet, and then, remembering that life on Earth evolves slowly, you need billions of years of evolution to produce intelligent life. Therefore, the star has to be long lived. Not all stars live a long time. Some stars don’t live as long as a billion years, or even as long as a hundred million years. Your most massive stars are dead after 10 million years or less—not much hope for intelligent life on a planet around those stars, if what happened on Earth is any indication. We need a star that is long lived and a planet, but not just any planet—a planet in the star’s habitable zone.

“The Milky Way is … 75 trillion times Earth’s diameter.”

How are stars born, how big is the milky way, is part of our galaxy invisible, how did structure form, is there a black hole in our backyard.

The interstellar medium is the raw material from which stars are made. … The interstellar medium is quite diffuse over most of the Milky Way galaxy, but in certain regions … it is relatively dense—these are the regions that are ripe for star formation. Gravity pulls a small knot in the cloud of dust and gas together. As it collapses, it heats up, converting its gravitational potential energy to kinetic energy as it falls inward, eventually becoming hot and dense enough for thermonuclear reactions to take place, and a star is born. … With time, the radiation and stellar winds from the young stars evaporate and blow away the dust surrounding them, gradually unveiling the stars.

The nearest stars are about 4 light-years away, or 4 × 10 13 kilometers. Divide this by the diameter of the Sun, 1.4 million kilometers. This will tell us how many Suns we would have to lay side by side to reach to the nearest star: 30 million. … The Sun itself is about 100 times the diameter of Earth. In other words, the distance to the nearest stars is 3 billion times the diameter of Earth. The stars are tiny specks compared to the enormous distances between them. … It turns out that the distance of 4 light-years is a typical distance between stars in our galaxy. We now know that our Milky Way is a very flattened structure, a circular disk, roughly 100,000 light-years in diameter, but only 1,000 or so light-years thick. … The extent of the Milky Way is about 25,000 times larger than the typical distances between stars, or 75 trillion times Earth’s diameter.

There is a significant component of the mass of the Milky Way outside the orbit of the Sun that is simply not visible in the form of stars. We call it dark matter. We have inferred its presence solely through its gravitational effect on stellar orbits. How much dark matter does the Milky Way contain? The answer depends on how far out we think the Milky Way extends. The stars mostly peter out 40,000 light-years or so from the center, but the orbital speeds of the rare stars or clouds of gas even farther out are about the same as that of the Sun, 220 km/sec. Our best modern estimates tell us that the stars and interstellar medium in the Milky Way represent only a small fraction, perhaps 10%, of the entire mass of the galaxy. The vast majority of the Milky Way’s mass, roughly a trillion times the mass of the Sun, is in the form of dark matter, extending perhaps 250,000 light-years from the center.

A perfectly uniform universe will expand uniformly, and no structure will ever form: no galaxies, no stars, no planets, no humans to look up at the sky and wonder what it all means. The fact that we live in a Universe with structure, with real deviations from uniformity—that is, a universe in which we exist—tells us that the early universe … could not have been perfectly smooth. … Consider a region in the early universe in which the density of matter is slightly higher than in the neighboring regions. The mass associated with that region is also slightly higher, and thus it has a slightly higher gravitational pull than the material around it. A random hydrogen atom or particle of dark matter will be attracted toward that region, thereby increasing its density at the expense of the regions around it. Material thus falls into this region, increasing its mass, and in the gravitational tug-of-war, it will be even more effective in pulling extra matter toward it. As time goes on, this process will cause subtle fluctuations in the density of matter to grow with time—enough in principle to form the structures we find around us today.

Astronomers have now searched in detail for black holes in about 100 galaxies. In essentially every case that they had the sensitivity to detect it, they did find evidence for a supermassive black hole in the center. As far as we can tell, essentially every large galaxy with a significant bulge (i.e., ellipticals and most spirals) hosts a black hole. Our Milky Way, with a black hole of a mere 4 million solar masses, is a relative wimp; the most massive black holes among the nearby galaxies are several billion times more massive than the Sun (as we saw for M87). Moreover, the larger the elliptical galaxy (or the bulge of the spiral galaxy), the more massive the black hole will be; the mass of the black hole is typically about 1/500 of the mass of the bulge of stars in which it sits.

Einstein and the universe

“the space connecting all the galaxies … is just getting bigger.”, how does gravity work, what is a black hole, what happened before the big bang, do we live in a multiverse, what does our future hold.

Newton would say that if you took two masses and set them at rest in interstellar space, they would start accelerating toward each other because of their gravitational attraction, and they would eventually hit each other. Newton would say this is because they exert forces on each other at a distance, and these forces pull them together. Einstein says that the two masses cause the spacetime around them to be curved. In that curved geometry, the two particles simply travel on the straightest possible trajectories they can, which brings them together.

Suppose I got an enormous trash compactor and crushed Earth to a smaller size, wadding it up like a ball of paper and crushing it into a smaller radius. What would happen to the escape velocity? Earth’s mass would be the same, but its radius would be smaller, making the escape velocity from its surface rise. Eventually, if I crushed Earth to small enough size, the escape velocity would become equal to the velocity of light c. … Einstein showed that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light—if you crush Earth to a radius inside its Schwarzschild radius, it’s never going to re-emerge: it forms a black hole. We call it a “black hole,” because no light from inside it can ever get out. The mass will continue to collapse to still smaller size, where gravity will pull it together even more strongly, increasing the escape velocity even more. Inside the Schwarzschild radius, gravity wins over all other forces, and the mass collapses to a point, a singularity of infinite curvature at the center. … If you were to venture inside the Schwarzschild radius, could you ever get back outside? No. You would have to travel faster than light to do so, and Einstein showed that was impossible.

Time begins at the Big Bang—a singularity of infinite curvature is there. … What happened before the Big Bang? This question makes no sense in the context of general relativity, because time and space were created at the Big Bang. It’s like asking what is south of the South Pole. If you go farther and farther south, you will eventually get to the South Pole. But you can’t go farther south than the South Pole. Likewise, if you go farther and farther back in time, you will eventually get to the Big Bang. That’s when time and space were created, so that’s the earliest you can go. Aristotle liked a universe that was infinitely old, because you would not have to ask how it got started; if it had a beginning, a first cause, then you would have to explain what caused the first cause, he worried. Einstein and Newton liked infinitely old universes also. But Friedmann’s universe started with a Big Bang at a finite time in the past, when both space and time were created.

How can one get an infinite number of universes each ultimately infinite in size, from just a finite beginning? De Sitter spacetime looks like a trumpet with its mouth opening upward. … This remarkable spacetime geometry, in which inflation continues forever and the space becomes infinitely big, allows creation of an infinite number of infinite bubble universes in an ever-inflating sea. … Inflation seems inevitably to produce a multiverse of universes. Just how sure are scientists of this? Once Sir Martin Rees (the Astronomer Royal) was asked at a conference how sure he was that we lived in a multiverse. He said he wouldn’t be willing to bet his life on it, but he would go so far as to bet the life of his dog. Linde rose to say that since he had spent decades of his life working on the multiverse idea, he had proven that he would bet his life on it. Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg said he would be willing to bet Linde’s life on it, and Martin Rees’s dog’s!

If we look around, we can see the universe showing us what we should be doing. We live on a tiny speck in a vast universe. The universe tells us: spread out and increase your habitat to improve your survival prospects. We live on a planet littered with the bones of extinct species, and the age of our species is tiny relative to that of the universe as a whole. We should spread out before we die out. We have a space program only about half a century old that is capable of sending us to other planets. We should make the wisest possible use of it before it is gone. Will we venture out, or turn our backs on the universe?

“Your mind says ‘I feel small,’ your heart says ‘I feel small,’ but now you’re empowered … not to think small, but to think big.”

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“The authors maintain the individual charms of their distinct voices chapter by chapter so the reader has the visceral sense of science shared, passed from one mind to another, almost as though through an oral history - ultimately, a warm welcome to the universe.” Janna Levin author of Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space

Welcome to the Universe is a personal guided tour of the cosmos by three of today’s leading astrophysicists. Inspired by the enormously popular introductory astronomy course that Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss, and J. Richard Gott taught together at Princeton, this book covers it all—from planets, stars, and galaxies to black holes, wormholes, and time travel.

Describing the latest discoveries in astrophysics, the informative and entertaining narrative propels you from our home solar system to the outermost frontiers of space. How do stars live and die? Why did Pluto lose its planetary status? What are the prospects of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe? How did the universe begin? Why is it expanding and why is its expansion accelerating? Is our universe alone or part of an infinite multiverse? Answering these and many other questions, the authors open your eyes to the wonders of the cosmos, sharing their knowledge of how the universe works.

Breathtaking in scope and stunningly illustrated throughout, Welcome to the Universe is for those who hunger for insights into our evolving universe that only world-class astrophysicists can provide.

THE BOOK'S COMPANION

Welcome to the Universe: The Problem Book features more than one hundred problems and exercises used in the original course, ideal for anyone who wants to deepen their understanding of the original material and to learn to think like an astrophysicist. Whether you're a student or teacher, citizen scientist or science enthusiast, your guided tour of the cosmos just got even more hands-on with this essential companion book.

The authors

Neil De Grasse Tyson

Neil DeGrasse Tyson is director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History. He is the author of many books, including Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier , and the host of the Emmy Award–winning documentary Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey .

Michael A. Strauss

Michael A. Strauss is professor of astrophysics at Princeton University.

J. Richard Gott

J. Richard Gott is professor of astrophysics at Princeton University. His books include The Cosmic Web: Mysterious Architecture of the Universe (Princeton).

The Publisher

Princeton University Press brings scholarly ideas to the world. We publish books that connect authors and readers across spheres of knowledge to advance and enrich the human conversation.

We embrace the highest standards in our publishing as embodied in the work of our authors from Albert Einstein in our earliest years to the present.

In keeping with Princeton University’s commitment to serve the nation and the world, we publish for scholars, students, and serious readers everywhere.

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Neil deGrasse Tyson Tour

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Catch America's Foremost Science Educator Live!

Writer, astronomer, Hayden Planetarium director, and all-around nerd legend Neil deGrasse Tyson is hitting the road on a 2024 tour of North American, and fans young and old will want to catch his new science showcase, live and in person at a venue near them! As America's foremost science ambassador, Tyson has dedicated his career to getting students and citizens excited about the possibilities engendered by scientific exploration, technology, engineering, and math — and he does it with a wit and enthusiasm that's absolutely infectious.  And all that enthusiasm and smarts will be on display at a stage near you soon! So if you want to experience his incredible new show, live and in person, then you've come to the right place. Check the Neil deGrasse Tyson Tour schedule below, and get your tickets today. Because if you don't, some other science buff will!

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Welcome to the Universe MP3 CD – MP3 Audio, May 16, 2017

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Welcome to the Universe is a personal guided tour of the cosmos by three of today's leading astrophysicists. Inspired by the enormously popular introductory astronomy course that Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss, and J. Richard Gott taught together at Princeton, this book covers it all - from planets, stars, and galaxies to black holes, wormholes, and time travel.

Describing the latest discoveries in astrophysics, the informative and entertaining narrative propels you from our home solar system to the outermost frontiers of space. How do stars live and die? Why did Pluto lose its planetary status? What are the prospects of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe? How did the universe begin? Why is it expanding, and why is its expansion accelerating? Is our universe alone or part of an infinite multiverse? Answering these and many other questions, the authors open your eyes to the wonders of the cosmos, sharing their knowledge of how the universe works.

Breathtaking in scope, Welcome to the Universe is for those who hunger for insights into our evolving universe that only world-class astrophysicists can provide.

• Language English
• Publisher Audible Studios on Brilliance Audio
• Publication date May 16, 2017
• Dimensions 6.75 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• ISBN-10 1543602266
• ISBN-13 978-1543602265
• See all details

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Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Audible Studios on Brilliance Audio; Unabridged edition (May 16, 2017)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1543602266
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1543602265
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.5 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.75 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• #2,590 in Cosmology (Books)
• #4,011 in Astrophysics & Space Science (Books)
• #18,586 in Books on CD

About the authors

J. richard gott.

J. Richard Gott is noted for his contributions to cosmology and general relativity. He has received the Robert J. Trumpler Award, an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, the Astronomical League Award, and Princeton's President's Award for Distinguished Teaching. He was for many years Chair of the Judges for the Westinghouse and Intel Science Talent Search.

His paper “On the Infall of Matter into Clusters of Galaxies and Some Effects on Their Evolution” co-authored with Jim Gunn has received over 1500 citations. He proposed that the clustering pattern of galaxies in the universe should be spongelike--a prediction now confirmed by numerous surveys. He discovered exact solutions to Einstein's field equations for the gravitational field around one cosmic string (in 1985) and two moving cosmic strings (in 1991). This second solution has been of particular interest because, if the strings move fast enough, at nearly the speed of light, time travel to the past can occur. His paper with Li-Xin Li, “Can the Universe Create Itself?” explores the idea of how the laws of physics may permit the universe to be its own mother. His book "Time Travel in Einstein's Universe" was selected by Booklist as one of four “Editors’ Choice” science books for 2001. He has published papers on map projections in Cartographica.

His picture has appeared in Time, Newsweek, and the New York Times. He wrote an article on time travel for Time magazine as part of its cover story on the future (April 10, 2000). His and Mario Juric’s Map of the Universe appeared in the New York Times (January 13, 2004), New Scientist, and Astronomy. Gott and Juric are in Guinness World Records 2006 and 2011 for finding the largest structure in the universe: the Sloan Great Wall of Galaxies (1.37 billion light years long). Gott’s Copernican argument for space colonization was the subject of an article in the New York Times (July 17, 2007).

Neil deGrasse Tyson

THE LATEST BOOK

I'm Neil deGrasse Tyson, an astrophysicist and servant of those who are insatiably curious. My latest book "Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization" contains the deepest ideas and thoughts that I've ever put to page. But maybe that's for you to decide. The book offers a view "from above" that is unapologetically scientifically literate while addressing topics such as mind & body, conflict & resolution, law & order, gender & identity, color & race, life & death. Often, the most divisive issues in society simply evaporate when you see them embedded in a larger world-view. Starry Messenger is an offering to civilization, to help it find the guide star it lost long ago.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

Neil deGrasse Tyson was born in New York City the same week NASA was founded. His interest in the universe traces back to age 9, after a first visit to the Hayden Planetarium of the American Museum of Natural History. He was educated in the public schools of New York City through his graduation from the Bronx High School of Science. And after an BA in Physics from Harvard and a PhD in Astrophysics from Columbia and a Postdoctoral research fellowship at Princeton, Tyson became the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium, where he has served since 1996.

Michael A. Strauss

Michael Strauss is a professor of Astrophysics at Princeton University. He was an undergraduate and graduate student at Berkeley, and did postdoctoral research at Caltech and Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study before joining the faculty at the university in 1995. He is an observational astronomer, using telescopes both on the ground and in space to map the sky. He is known for his discoveries and studies of distant quasars and the three-dimensional distribution of galaxies in the universe. He has taught at all levels, from introductory astronomy for non-scientists to cosmology for graduate students.

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Watch CBS News

Neil deGrasse Tyson's new book takes readers on a cosmic tour

November 22, 2016 / 12:23 PM EST / CBS News

From stars to black holes and the planets, Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and two of his colleagues gives a “tour of the universe” in their new book, “Welcome to the Universe: An Astrophysical Tour.”

“There’s so many books today that are a mile wide and an inch deep and that’s fine if it’s your first exposure, but we felt it was time to take you a mile deep as well. So it’s a tour of the universe,” Tyson told “CBS This Morning” Tuesday. “And once you do that, you learn not only what we’ve come to know about the universe, but how we figured it out and that’s what will distinguish this book from others on the shelf.”

The book delves into the earliest theories of space, from Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, dark matter and cosmic strings, to the search for life in the galaxy. One entire chapter in the book is dedicated to calculating the number of communicating civilizations in the galaxy using the Drake equation, named after astrophysicist Frank Drake.

The authors “hacked away” from the total number of stars in the galaxy – several hundred billion – to conclude there were currently about a hundred civilizations in the galaxy.

“What fraction of those have planets, and what fraction of those planets have lives? And what fraction of those planets that have life have intelligent life? And what fraction of those that have intelligent life have civilization that you might actually be communicating with?” Tyson said. “And we give the very latest estimate of those fractions.”

“What do you mean by intelligent life?” co-host Charlie Rose asked.

“We’re doing the defining. Maybe we come upon life that is so advanced beyond us that they would not classify us as intelligent,” Tyson said.

“But if you’re making these classifications and you’re defining these civilizations, don’t you have to have a definition?” Rose asked.

“It’s a clean way we think about this.“We have the capacity to send radio signals out there which penetrates the clouds of the galaxy and can reach its destination at the speed of light,” Tyson said. “If you have our civilization and can do that too, that’s the functional definition of intelligence civilization.”

The book also discusses the potential of an asteroid strike – which Tyson said was not a matter of if, but when. Tyson said the size can help measure the energy of the encounter, and that scientists now have a “very good sense” of how climate is affected by local phenomenon. 

“And so in the old days, you might have thought asteroid hits here, kills everything there, but everybody else is okay. No -- above certain size asteroids, it wreaks havoc climatically across the planet. And so it can render mass extinctions as it happened with the dinosaurs 65 million years ago,” Tyson said. “I bet if they had a space program, they would’ve deflected the asteroid – but of course they were dinosaurs.”

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Q&A: Neil deGrasse Tyson, Tour Guide to the ‘Cosmos’

By James Rocchi

James Rocchi

Calling Neil deGrasse Tyson America’s best-known astrophysicist isn’t just recognizing his excellence and prominence in a fairly specialized field; it’s in no small part due to his ceaseless efforts above and beyond his work at the Hayden Planetarium and the American Museum of Natural History, appearing everywhere from Jeopardy! to The Daily Show to wittily explain big scientific ideas with pop culture references and a purring baritone. Now, Tyson is the new host of the revived Cosmos : A SpaceTime Odyssey —  a Fox-sponsored, Seth “ Family Guy “ MacFarlane-executive-produced reinterpretation of the original 1980’s Carl Sagan PBS program that introduced earlier generations to the existential wonders of time, space, and the natural world. (The show premieres March 9th.)

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Tyson spoke with us by phone during a busy week before the show’s Sunday debut about how the show re-vamped Sagan’s old ride through the universe on “The Ship of the Imagination” for the 21st Century. As Tyson explains, “ Cosmos is how and why any of this science matters; what effect does it have on your outlook, your cosmic perspective? Cosmos can influence you not only intellectually but emotionally, and with its good doses of awe and wonder, it can even affect you spiritually …” 

We live in an era of technological and scientific wonders … and we still mess up the programming on our DVRs, or confuse electrons with neutrons. As we get more scientifically advanced, is human fallibility going to limit what we can do and know, or do we keep moving past that ?  No, because human fallibility is up to the fallibility of the individual. If you get enough people together you can do things that are without error; now you have computers that fly airplanes, because they’ve been doing it long enough that any situation that an aircraft can get into has been properly programmed in. There’s a saying from the early days of computing: “To err is human, but to really screw things up requires a computer.”

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Now, however, no one would say that; computers make everything better, and it’s because the sum of all the programming talents of talented people. So we’re limited by the best our species can create — not by the likelihood of an individual to make an error.

The best? Our species has put forth Newton and Darwin, Einstein and Marie Curie. It’s put forth people who have truly transformed our understanding of the natural world; in fact, the Cosmos series features many such individuals, who have left us in a neat place. So no, I think we may be limited by the total intelligence of our species — but not by individuals.

In the 34 years since the original “ Cosmos ,” has our understanding of science changed substantially in terms of new theories and new principles? Has it deepened in terms of better understanding the theories of the past?  It’s done both. In the last 34 years, for example, we’ve discovered that the expanding universe is accelerating; it’s a major discovery that led to a Nobel Prize. Yet it remains a mystery: The Nobel Prize was given to the discovery, but that doesn’t mean we yet understand what’s causing the acceleration. 

What else have we discovered? We’ve discovered a thousand planets orbiting other stars. We’ve discovered a new branch of the tree of life called, collectively, “extremophiles,” that thrive in conditions that can kill other animal and humans — conditions of high pressure, high radiation, high density — or low density, low pressure; anything that we would think of as extreme is just natural for this branch of life. And the reason why that’s interesting is that it broadens the net that we cast in our search for life in the universe, because it gives us more kinds of zones, more kinds of niches, more conditions under which we would find life as we know it …

If we can find vent-worms on earth, it might help us find similar lifeforms at the bottom of the ocean on, say, Jupiter’s moon Europa…. …Or maybe the surface conditions are equal to the conditions at the bottom of our ocean, so that you would find life thriving on the surface of a planet that has conditions very unlike anything we would find ourselves. So our knowledge has broadened immensely and has also deepened. 

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What kinds of theories and understandings have gotten deeper and richer in the past 34 years? The whole field of astrobiology has come of age; we’re searching for the signatures of life in the atmospheres of the exoplanets, for example. We’ve confirmed that the dinosaurs died by asteroid, and that asteroid crater is in the Yucatan Peninsula in what is now Mexico. So the idea that such an event could render 70%of the world’s species extinct is itself an extraordinary result. 

What else has deepened? We know the age of the universe with more precision than ever before; we know a little bit more about the behavior of subatomic particles with the discovery of the Higgs Boson, a field made by a particle that gives mass to other particles; there’s discussion of the multiverse, where we are just one bubble out of an uncountable number of other bubbles of universes coming in and out of existence. So there’s a lot more science, but Cosmos is not about bringing the latest science to the public. There are documentaries that do that, and very good documentaries at that. 

So, what to you separates Cosmos from those documentaries? What distinguishes us is the context in which this information is presented, and the context for Cosmos is how and why any of this science matters; what effect does it have on your outlook, your cosmic perspective; and in that way Cosmos can be taken to heart; Cosmos can influence you not only intellectually but emotionally. And with its good doses of awe and wonder, it can even affect you spiritually. 

You’re working with Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane as one of the producers; you’re working with Brannon Braga, who has experience with a more fun form of space exploration as a producer on several  Star Trek offshoots .  Are there ever concerns about getting the ratio of steak-to-sizzle correct?  Well, that presupposes that the steak and the sizzle are opposing forces, and that one has to be compromised for the other. I just don’t agree with that. When I look up at the night sky, I see steak and sizzle simultaneously. [ Laughs ] I see black holes — or I know they’re there, I know the data that tells me they’re there — and I wonder what it would be like to fall into a black hole, how extraordinary the forces of nature are near the center of a black hole. I think of the majesty of galaxies as the collide in this hundred-million-year-long ballet, this cosmic ballet choreographed by the forces of gravity. We have people [in special effects] who make good explosions on TV, but they’re usually exploding buildings or cars; with Cosmos, they now get to explode real things that really do explode in the real universe!

The steak and the sizzle, or the science and the entertainment — to me they’re all one and the same. No element on one side of that equation has to compromise the other. And I think anyone who thinks that’s the case hasn’t thought long and hard and deep enough about both.

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I accept your thesis, but at the same time, there’s a sequence where you, beholding the glory of the creation of the universe in the Big Bang, slip on your sunglasses. Is that fun and humanity a big part of it? [ Laughs ] Well, it’s the only time I don sunglasses; I figured if I put them on at all, it should be for the Big Bang. We had this whole discussion: Should I put them on when I go close to the sun, or anywhere else? “No, if need them for the Big Bang, that’s all I need them for.” [ Laughs ] It was just as a sort of a tip of the hat to the fact that I’m still a human being as your tour guide, and I want you to have fun right alongside me. 

So, a little bit of showmanship. I just put them on; I don’t announce the brand, or pause while the camera zooms in on me pulling them out. It’s just something I felt it was natural to do. But otherwise everything in “ Cosmos ,” all 13 episodes, is carefully selected for its scientific accuracy and for the messaging the particularly-selected content delivered. 

But you were also saying the “Ship of the Imagination” Mr. Sagan used to fly through space and time in during the first program has been revamped to now be, in your words, a little more “badass.”  The original Ship of the Imagination had mixed reviews: “Why is it there? What is it?” We just re-imagined it. And now you like being there because it’s the nexus of space and time; if we go into the ship, you know you’re going to come out in a new place or a new time, and that creates a little bit of anticipation for the viewer. It also gives me a place to stand to continue to tell the story, so I can help the viewer pivot into one space/time coordinate from another. (The Ship of the Imagination) is just badass; not “a little more,” it’s just badass … but I shouldn’t be the judge of that. I’ll let others come to that conclusion on their own. 

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Merlin’s Tour of the Universe

Thirteen chapters of questions about astronomy and space asked by the general public and answered through the pen name “Merlin.”

Merlin, a fictional visitor from the Andromeda Galaxy, Planet Omniscia, has been friends with many of the most important scientific figures of the past including Kepler, da Vinci, Magellan, Doppler, Einstein, and Hubble. In this delightful tour of the galaxies, Merlin often recounts his conversations with these historical figures in his responses to popular astronomy questions asked by adults and children alike. Merlin’s well-informed answers combine a unique combination of wit and poetry along with serious science explained in refreshingly clear, reader-friendly language.

Merlin’s Tour of the Universe  is a skywatcher’s book for lovers of the universe by one of its brightest lights.

We all have some questions we’d like to ask about astronomy. Well, here they are—And the answers too, short, straightforward, light-hearted, and correct. Think up more questions and perhaps we can get a second book out of Neil Tyson. Isaac Asimov

Neil Tyson has written a charming, delightful book on astronomy which teaches and entertains the reader at the same time. Using the question-answer technique, but with questions from real people, with their names given to identify them. Tyson takes the reader on a jaunt through the universe, and like all trips, it is amusing, entertaining, and educational. With Merlin as the narrator, the astronomical mysteries from the notions of the planets to the expansion of the universe are explained. It’s good reading for all ages. Lloyd Motz

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