Neil deGrasse Tyson Put On an Amazing Show at Portland’s Merrill Auditorium

When I heard the news that astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson was coming to Portland's Merril Auditorium, I immediately grabbed my phone and bought my tickets. I was not disappointed when I saw the sold-out show on March 19.

Who is Neil deGrasse Tyson?

Tyson is an astrophysicist, author, and one of the best science communicators in the business, describing our universe in easy-to-understand terms. He is the director of the  Hayden Planetarium in New York City and has been with the Planetarium since 1994, working his way up to director.

He's also the person who was behind Pluto no longer being one of the planets of our solar system, but a dwarf planet. Not everyone was happy about that, like this kid who wrote to Tyson about it.

Tyson was also the host of Cosmos, a reboot of the classic PBS show that answered questions about our universe.

Yep. I'm a fan.

Cosmic Collisions

Neil deGrasse Tyson was at Merrill Auditorium for his lecture on "Cosmic Collisions", where he explained black holes colliding, meteor collisions, how the moon was formed, and an impressive animation showing how many objects are whirling around Earth.

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You Don't Feel Like You're in School

What makes Tyson so good at what he does is the way he teaches. He explains the things going on in the universe on a level we can all understand and does it with a lot of humor. He's a funny guy and he makes what could be a boring lecture about space into something very entertaining.

Tyson made himself feel right at home on the stage when he was introduced by taking off his shoes, leaving just his socks. He quickly explained that if he's going to be on a stage for two hours talking about the universe, he needs to make sure he's comfortable.

I thoroughly enjoyed this show and I think you would too the next time he's in Portland. It's a presentation you won't soon forget.