Just Visiting This Planet by Neil deGrasse Tyson

*Revised and updated for the twenty-first century*

In this updated, illustrated companion volume to Merlin’s Tour of the Universe, we visit again with Merlin, a timeless space traveler from Planet Omniscia, who answers a collection of imaginative questions about the cosmos from Earthlings of all ages. Whether waxing poetic about Earth and its environs, the Sun and its stellar siblings, the world of light, physical laws or galaxies near and far, Merlin’s remarks are engaging, humorous, and clear as a starry night sky.

Merlin hasn’t been stumped yet, responding to questions including:
If aliens exploded our moon, what effect would it have on us?
What are your thoughts on the theory that a star named Nemesis is circling our solar system and was responsible for killing off the dinosaurs?
If I leave a container on my roof for a period of time, can I collect particles from outer space?

Just Visiting This Planet is a timeless book for all travellers of the universe.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry comes another guided tour of the universe.

About the Author: Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. In 2017 he became the first American to win the prestigious Stephen Hawking Medal for science communication. He is the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space and a research associate in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History. From 2006 to 2011 he hosted the educational science television show NOVA ScienceNow on PBS, and in March 2014 he became host of the television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, an update of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. Tyson has written several New York Times bestselling nonfiction books.

21 Oct 2025
 

Just Visiting This Planet: Merlin Answers More Questions about Everything under the Sun, Moon and Stars by Neil deGrasse Tyson ISBN 9781788709729