Neil deGrasse Tyson, famed astrophysicist, came to Huntsville last Thursday as part of his tour across the country. Tyson, head of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, N.Y., is mostly known for his appearance on “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey” on Fox and his hosting of “Star Talk” on National Geographic. He spoke mostly about exoplanets and the search for extraterrestrial life as chosen by the host of the event.

Tyson has drawn a lot of controversy over the past few years for his statements on creationism, repeatedly reiterating that he does not believe in anything that cannot be explicitly proven by facts. This may be the reason the event was layered with heavy security. Before anyone could go in, they had to be wanded down and go through metal detectors.

All in all, Tyson’s two-hour talk was very enjoyable and entertaining. He closed with a reading from his mentor Carl Sagan’s book, “A Pale Blue Dot,” bringing many in the crowd to tears.