The "Pluto killer" cometh.

Neil deGrasse Tyson, the astrophysicist, science icon, talk show favorite and host of TV's "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey," "StarTalk" and "Nova ScienceNOW", will bring a "The Search for Life in the Universe" event to Von Braun Center Mark C. Smith Concert Hall 7:30 p.m. Feb. 8.

Tickets are $49.50 - $87.50 (plus applicable fees), go on sale 10 a.m. Dec. 15., available via VBC Box Office (700 Monroe St.), ticketmaster.com or by phone at 800-745-3000.

VIP tickets, which include post-show meet and greet with Tyson, tour poster and photo op, can be had for $200 a pop.

"The Search for Life in the Universe" event is billed as "an entertaining, family-friendly evening designed to help unravel the mysteries of modern science. Beginning with Mars, we review the ongoing effort to search for habitable planets, liquid water, and life in the cosmos, culminating in the search for intelligent life, whether or not it already exists on Earth."

In 2003, Tyson published an essay also titled "The Search for Life in the Universe," in NASA's Astrobiology magazine, opening with the sentence: "If the person on next to me on a long airplane flight ever finds out that I am an astrophysicist, nine times out of ten they ask, with wide eyes, about life in the universe."

Tyson is also the best-selling author of such titles as "Astrophysics for People in a Hurry," "Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier" and "Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries."

The term "rock-star astrophysicist" is more than a little ridiculous. But in the case of Tyson it might actually also be warranted.

He has 10.7 million followers on Twitter, roughly three times the followers Guns N' Roses guitar legend Slash has on that social media platform.

Over the years, Tyson's appeared as himself in TV shows ranging from "The Big Bang Theory" and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" to, in animated form, "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy." Tyson even made a cameo in 2016 superhero film "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice."

In the real world, he's based in New York and director of the Rose Center for Earth and Space's Hayden Planetarium there.

Tyson has joked, on late-night talk shows, etc. about being wrongly blamed for Pluto no longer being considered a planet, after Pluto was bumped to lowly "dwarf planet" status in 2006, following Tyson's reluctance to classify Pluto as our Solar System's ninth planet.