Dean Regas

Dean Regas is an American astronomer, public speaker, author, and television host. He is most widely known as the cohost of the syndicated television show Star Gazers,^[1] which airs daily on more than 100 PBS stations around the world. He was the Outreach Astronomer for the Cincinnati Observatory from 2000 to 2023^[2] where he specialized in astronomy education and public speaking.^[3] Regas is the author of three books Facts From Space!,^[4] 100 Things to See in the Night Sky,^[5] and 100 Things to See in the Southern Night Sky.^[6][7]

He is a Contributing Editor to Sky & Telescope^[8] magazine and a contributor to Astronomy magazine.^[9] Regas is a frequent guest on nationally broadcast radio shows Science Friday^[10] and Here and Now.^[11][12] In 2017 he created a podcast for popular astronomy called Looking Up, which he cohosts with Cincinnati Observatory Development Director Anna Hehman.^[13]

Dean was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio and both of his parents are Greek-Americans. He moved to Cincinnati in 1992 to attend Xavier University where he received a B.A. in history and an M.A. in secondary education.^[14]

Regas began his career at the Cincinnati Observatory as a volunteer in 1998. He was hired in 2000 as the Outreach Educator, tasked with bringing astronomy programs to schools around the area.^[14] He has since become an expert in observational astronomy.^[15] Regas delivers about 150 astronomy talks per year around the region and across the country to audiences of all ages.^[3] He stopped working for the observatory in 2023.^[2]

Star Gazers is a weekly television program, a 1-minute and a 5-minute version, that covers what people can observe in the night sky from their backyards. Regas guest-hosted Star Gazers in 2010.^[16] Along with astronomer James C. Albury, have co-hosted the show since 2011.^[17] Regas and Albury are the main writers and presenters for 104 episodes per year that air for free on PBS stations around the world.^[1]

In 2000 he began writing astronomy articles for The Cincinnati Enquirer^[18] and has since written more than 120 pieces about observational astronomy. His articles have also appeared in Sky & Telescope Magazine, Astronomy Magazine, and USA Today,^[19] and he blogged for The Huffington Post from 2013 to 2018.^[20]

• Facts From Space!: From Super-Secret Spacecraft to Volcanoes in Outer Space, Extraterrestrial Facts to Blow Your Mind. (Adams Media, 2016). ISBN 9781440597015
• 100 Things to See in the Night Sky: From Planets and Satellites to Meteors and Constellations, Your Guide to Stargazing. (Adams Media, 2017; Expanded edition, 2020). ISBN 9781507205051
• 100 Things to See in the Southern Night Sky: From Planets and Satellites to Meteors and Constellations, Your Guide to Stargazing. (Adams Media, 2018). ISBN 9781507207802
• How to Teach Grown-Ups About Pluto: The Cutting-Edge Space Science of the Solar System. (Britannica Books, 2022). ISBN 9781913750510
• 1,000 Facts About Space. (National Geographic Kids, 2022). ISBN 9781426373428.

• Winner of Astronomy Magazine's 2008 "Out-of-this-World" Award for astronomy education^[21]
• Recipient of a NASA ROSES grant (2010-2012) for Future Galileos, a project that awarded 100 quality telescopes to educators in the Cincinnati area^[22]
• Asteroid 8815 Deanregas is named after him^[23]