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]