There are not a lot of scientists capable of selling out the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, and fewer who would receive a standing ovation the moment they stepped onstage, but that's the sort of rarified position astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson occupies in the popular culture. The enthusiasm was on full display at his Sept. 28 presentation, “An Astrophysicist reads the Newspaper.”

And with good reason: In addition to being the director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, Tyson's a staple of late night talk shows, explaining scientific happenings with wit and charisma to the likes of Stephen Colbert. He's a popular author whose most recent book, “Astrophysics For People in a Hurry,” debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list, and who has an odd hobby of comically savaging the science of TV shows and movies such as “Star Trek” and “Game of Thrones” on Twitter.

He is also, as he clarified for anyone who was dragged to the lecture against his will, the man who killed Pluto, or at least declared that it was no longer considered a planet, a move for which he does not apologize, although the topic did lead him down a hilarious digression as he explained why Disney's cartoon dog of the same name was a pet, whereas the bipedal talking dog Goofy was a person. Hint: One wears clothes.

Tyson's a gifted speaker, certainly, with a wit and timing on par with many comedians, and he exudes confidence. He's handsome and charismatic, has an odd mix of gravitas and geeky cool, and can explain scientific principles in a way that doesn't make the audience feel stupid.

In a lot of ways, Tyson has become an avatar for our culture's desire to have science regain its prominence in the national consciousness at a time when the sciences are being devalued by forces which, he said, “wish to exploit ignorance for personal, political and financial gain.”

The first half of the presentation dealt with his bemusement and annoyance at how science is often reported in the news, with fads and exaggerations coming in for gentle mockery. A “Super Moon,” for instance – which recently caused all sorts of stir – is simply a full moon when the moon is closest to the Earth, which makes it appear very slightly larger. Proportionately, he said, if the normal moon was a 7-inch pizza, a Super Moon would come in at 8.05 inches – interesting, to a point, but because someone had affixed the word “super” to the name, it was presented as having some cosmic significance.

“People derive meaning from the word 'super,' as opposed from deriving meaning from the thing itself,” he said. The mainstream media came in for some gentle chiding for the fad-based coverage, but periodicals such as Space.com, came in for a savaging for, as he put it, “aiding & abetting.” Other topics included rapper B.o.B's Kickstarter campaign to prove that the Earth is flat, and the latest in a long series of predicted Apocalypses, this one from Doomsday Conspiracy Theorist David Meade.

“A degree of science literacy would inoculate us from this,” he said, of the saturation of nonsense claims that command media attention.

For the most part – aside from a couple bits about evolution – Tyson steered clear of religion, although he noted that the two are not simply interchangeable belief systems, a conflation which gets troublesome when it affects public policy.

Here, Tyson pivoted to more serious points. He discussed how eight straight tropical storms in the Caribbean have developed into hurricanes, a record unmatched since the 1800s. He talked about how, in the mid-1900s most new elements were discovered in the United States, but now Russia and Japan have been overtaking us, in part because the U.S. has stopped prioritizing science, which he says has a direct affect on the country’s “wealth, health and prosperity.”

Finally, he pivoted from bemusement and annoyance to wonder, telling the story of two black holes colliding 1.3 billion years ago, about the time sexual reproduction first appeared on Earth, with Tyson adding, “There was life on Earth. It just wasn't that interesting.” He walked the audience through Albert Einstein's accomplishments, particularly how he predicted that the existence of gravity waves from those black holes, a theory which was borne out in 2015, using methods made possible by Einstein's own research, when the waves were detected passing the Earth for one fifth of a second.

He also talked of space exploration, and the Voyager mission, and how it gave us a picture of the Earth from Neptune, which the scientist Carl Sagan referred to as a “pale blue dot,” poeticizing how the sum total of human existence existed on this tiny blip in space, “the only home we've ever known.”

After a second standing ovation, Tyson participated in a brief Q&A, wherein he consistently resisted titles such as “idol” and “hero” from audience members. “I'd say you really idolize the universe,” he said to one student, and “I'm just in the way.” He told another that he didn't like heroes, because they encourage people to remain idle while someone else fixes problems. He joked that he was hopping a plane to the Bahamas as soon as there were enough scientists getting the sort of attention he does, adding that until that happens, leaving the public sphere would be “irresponsible:” Someone needs to speak for science in the cultural discussion.

The question Tyson responded best to was from a 9-year-old boy, who asked what happens when you divided zero by zero. Tyson responded, delighted, that no one knew, and that there are some questions that don't have answers. It's easy to lose sight of Tyson the scientist in favor of the pop culture figure, but it's clear that sort of mystery is still what drives him, and that enthusiasm is infectious, bringing him a third standing ovation as the evening ended.