# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/phil-plait
# Generated: 2026-09-02T06:04:32.225Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/phil-plait"
name: "Phil Plait"
slug: "phil-plait"
description: "Philip Cary Plait, also known as The Bad Astronomer, is an American astronomer, skeptic, and popular science blogger. Plait has worked as part of the Hubble Space Telescope team, images and spectra of astronomical objects, as well as engaging in public outreach advocacy for NASA missions. He has written three books, Bad Astronomy, Death from the Skies, and Under Alien Skies. He has also appeared in several science documentaries, including How the Universe Works on the Discovery Channel. From August 2008 through 2009, he served as president of the James Randi Educational Foundation. Additionally, he wrote and hosted episodes of Crash Course Astronomy, which aired its last episode in 2016."
tagline: "American astronomer, writer, and skeptic"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Philip_Plait_2007.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
category:
  name: "Scientists"
  slug: "scientists"
profileType:
  name: "Scientist"
  slug: "scientist"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1964-09-30"
livingStatus: "LIVING"
scores:
  popularity:           65.09
  momentum:             0.916613621896881
  historical:           11.86174
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     85
  profileCompleteness:  90
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: 173
totalFollowers: 59400
platforms:
  - platform:  "X"
    url:       "https://x.com/badastronomer"
    handle:    "badastronomer"
  - platform:  "INSTAGRAM"
    url:       "https://www.instagram.com/thebadastronomer/"
    handle:    "thebadastronomer"
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2547843/"
    handle:    "nm2547843"
  - platform:  "WEBSITE"
    url:       "https://about.me/philplait"
  - platform:  "YOUTUBE"
    url:       "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC45SDrjKlPSY0bTvH6F7TOA"
    handle:    "@badastronomy"
    followers: 59400
sources:
  - url: "https://musicbrainz.org/artist/dfd379a7-9c36-4acb-9d41-6b2c87d1ed71"
    title: "MusicBrainz"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%81%D9%84_%D8%A8%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%AA"
    title: "فل بليت"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%81%D9%84_%D8%A8%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%AA"
    title: "فل بليت"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Plait"
    title: "Phil Plait"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Plait"
    title: "Phil Plait"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Plait"
    title: "Phil Plait"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Plait"
    title: "Philip Plait"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Plait"
    title: "Phil Plait"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Plait"
    title: "Phil Plait"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Plait"
    title: "Phil Plait"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B9%D1%82%2C_%D0%A4%D0%B8%D0%BB"
    title: "Плейт, Фил"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Plait"
    title: "Phil Plait"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Phil_Plait"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2701388"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1349506"
    title: "Phil Plait"
    type:  "DATABASE"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump