American astrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson who is known for roasting Hollywood films was born on October 5, 1958, in Manhattan, New York, the week NASA was founded. Tyson studied at Harvard University and earned a BA degree in physics. He also attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he began his graduate work and later received his MA in astronomy. He is not the only celebrity who finished college, there are tons of celebrities who graduated from college even after becoming famous.
His research has focused on observation in cosmology, stellar evolution, galactic astronomy, bulges, and stellar formation. Tyson was a research affiliate at Princeton University while he was a staff scientist at Hayden Planetarium and became the planetarium’s youngest director. Tyson has played an essential role in introducing astrophysical concepts and discoveries.
In 2001, he was appointed to the commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry. He later served on the President’s Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy, known as the Moon and Mars Beyond commission.
He later received NASA’s highest civilian honor, nine honorary doctorates, and the organization’s Distinguished Public Service Medal. The urban astrophysicist sure shows us that the sky is not the limit and far beyond the cosmos. Here is the list of his astrophysical concept achievements and discoveries.
8 Asteroid: 13123 Tyson
An approximately 10 kilometers in diameter Phocaea asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt was named in honor of American astrophysicist and popular science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson. NASA who hides unsettling things that they don't want the public to know has a space-based survey explorer surveyed with its subsequent Neowise mission. It was discovered by astronomer Carolyn Shoemaker and Canadian astronomer David Levy at the Palomar Observatory in California on May 16, 1994. At the time, Dr. Tyson was a research affiliate at Princeton University, and the Minor Planet Center published the official naming citation on November 11, 2000.
7 The Stephen Hawking Medal For Science Communication
Neil deGrasse Tyson was the first American scientist to receive the prestigious award. The honorary event is an international annual award for celebrating science and art in Trondheim, Norway, in 2017. The awards categories are writers, musicians, science communicators, artists, etc.
Hawking is known for his famous theories as a physicist and author of several best-selling books. Before him, physicist and science writer Jim Al-Khalili also received the award, including film director Marc Levinson for his work on the documentary Particle Fever and Hans Zimmer, who scored the film Interstellar.
6 Hubbard Medal, National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society celebrated the ceremony in George Washington University Lisner Auditorium, honoring astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson with the Hubbard Medal and the former recipient, Academy Award-winning filmmaker James Cameron is also known for deep sea exploration related to his film Titanic.
National Geographic Society’s CEO Gary Knell presented the Hubbard Award: “a who’s who of the most illustrious scientists such as Shackleton, Lindbergh, Leakey, Glenn, and Goodall, to mention a few,” made Tyson greatly honored for the award he had received. The universe is truly alive inside him.
5 Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Reality Show Host
Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey won the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Reality Show Host in 2014. The show is a science documentary series and a follow-up to the 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage that Carl Sagan presented. It was considered a milestone for scientific discoveries. However, in 2018, it was announced that there would be a sequel to the series titled Cosmos: Possible Worlds, which had its debut on Fox and National Geographic that released stunning pictures from their annual contest, hosted by the leading man himself, Neil deGrasse Tyson.
4 Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive, People Magazine
Neil deGrasse Tyson is best known for his extensive knowledge about space, exploding stars, structures of galaxies, and other “star talks.” Who would’ve known that a space brainiac would be voted as the sexiest scientist? Best known for his numerous awards and other achievements in Science history, he earned so many followers and admirers through his works and charismatic way of delivering speeches making the topic more interesting for listeners. The People Magazine voted Tyson as the Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive in 2000. Nerds are rejoicing for having a large-scale of knowledge can be sexy too.
3 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album
This Grammy Award has been awarded to deserving individuals since 1959. The award had several changes as time passed. Neil deGrasse Tyson was nominated for his Astrophysics For People In A Hurry. He's not the only non-musician be recognized by Grammy since even Barack Obama won 2 Grammy Awards. The book was published on May 2, 2017, by W. W. Norton & Company; the book is a collection of the author’s essays that appeared in Natural History magazine at various times. When it first appeared in 2017, the book debuted at number 1 on the New York Times Non-Fiction Best Seller list, and it sold 48,416 copies in its first week.
2 Fifty Most Important African-Americans in Research Science
In his book Death by Black Holes, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of the world’s best-known black scientists. From “Black holes to Black history,” he is more eager to talk about his scientific theories, including research on scientific frontiers and unraveling space mysteries through his books about tremendous and small scientific matters. This award is based on his lifelong work in making science part of a global society. Discrimination is not a hindrance due to his contribution to society; he dramatically deserves a place in history.
1 Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award
This award is for the recognition of Morrow’s space advocacy. The Space Foundation annually presents this award to an individual or organization contributing to space programs. Neil deGrasse Tyson received the award in 2009. The award was presented during the opening ceremony of the 25th National Space Symposium in the same year. He was praised by the Space Foundation chief executive officer Elliot Pulham as an “intergalactic poet” laureate of our time and connected people and the universe with it. Through his books, we have access to understanding our place in the universe.
