"Some people hustle pool, some people hustle cars, but have you ever heard of the man who hustles stars?" From 1976 to 1997, these lines began every episode of Jack Horkheimer: Star Hustler, the astronomy show from WPBT, South Florida PBS. Later on Star Hustler was rebranded to Star Gazers, and hosts Dean Regas and James Albury took over after Horkheimer's passing. In this episode of Looking Up, Dean and James reminisce on production of the show, plus, "buzzkill" astronomy is back!
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Episode Transcript:
Looking Up is transcribed using a combination of AI speech recognition and human editors. It may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print.
Dean Regas: See five planets in the sky tonight. Heck, see six, no, seven! It's time for the planet parade.
[FOX 5 San Diego, February 2nd, 2023]: Well, if you're an early riser, you can expect a treat in the skies tomorrow morning.
Dean Regas: A solar system samba, a limbo lineup of luminous lights.
[FOX 5 New York, August 19,2025]: Six planets will be visible just before sunrise as part of the last planetary parade of 2025.
Dean Regas: It's something you can't miss because, it hasn't happened in like… it happened a couple months ago. Yeah. Well, maybe you've read about space stories like this, rare occurrences, things you can't miss. Are they real? Are they even cool at all?
Luckily for you, you are listening to the guy who has heard every celestial story in the galaxy and can tell the real deal from the overhyped. Just call me the Buzzkill astronomer.
From the studios of Cincinnati Public Radio. I'm your host, Dean Regas, and this is Looking Up…The show that takes you deep into the cosmos or just to the telescope in your backyard to learn more about what makes this amazing universe of ours so great.
My guest today is James Albury, director of the Kika Silva Pla Planetarium in Gainesville, Florida, and my co-host for almost a decade on the PBS show, Star Gazers.
Now, I'm generally a very, very positive person. You know, always keep looking up and what-not, but I gotta tell you, some astronomy stories I see, they just get me going in a negative way. It's the stories that the media makes a big deal about, which really aren't a big deal.
Now, a good example is comets. There's always these stories about comets that will be really, really bright.
[FOX 5 San Diego, February 2nd, 2023]: Happening tonight. A green comet that hasn't passed earth in 50,000 years will be visible. It's a once in a lifetime moment.
Dean Regas: And when in doubt I always tell you no, it won't be really bright. Then there's the meteor shower to end all meteor showers.
[CNN iReport, October 8th, 2019]: Alright, get ready for some Fireworks because we are in for quite a show over the next couple of nights’ annual Perseids—did I say that right— Meteor Shower. will be added. I don't know, but it's quite lovely. It is lovely and it is intense. The intense meteor shower…
Dean Regas: You know, like you're gonna see a hundred shooting stars an hour, that kind of thing.
[CNN iReport, October 8th, 2019]: Dozens streaking across the night sky.
Dean Regas: Then there's the so-called planet parade. Well, seeing seven planets in the sky at the same time is tough because Uranus and Neptune, you need a telescope to be able to see. Mercury is often lost in the haze, so that leaves you maybe three or four planets. But if you could see Jupiter and Venus and Saturn and Mars, alright, that's pretty good.
But just be wary when they say Planet Parade and you see seven? Be skeptical, be buzzkilly like me. And you know what I think, this guy that I'm about to talk to can probably relate.
James Albury is on the front lines of what's up in the sky, maybe even more than I am. I wonder if he ever has to be the buzzkill astronomer.
James Albury: My name is James Albury, and I am the manager of the Kika Silva Pla Planetarium at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Florida. And I co-hosted the TV show Star Gazers on PBS with my friend Dean Regas for almost nine years, and it was a lot of fun.
[Star Gazers Show Audio]: Welcome to Star Gazers. I'm James Albury. And I'm Dean Regas. And we're here to help you be sure you know what you're seeing in the night sky when you look up.
Dean Regas: Well, James, thanks so much for joining me today.
James Albury: You are welcome. It is always a pleasure to collaborate with you on all sorts of space-oriented stuff.
Dean Regas: Well, so when you joined the Star Gazers team after the passing of the founder and main star Jack Horkheimer, you know, what was it like on your first day on the set and then maybe compare that to a normal day when you and I were working side by side.
James Albury: Hmm. Okay. So, a little bit of the history of the show: Jack Horkheimer was our executive director of our planetarium in Miami, and he created a show on our local PBS station called Horkheimer’s Heavens, but they changed the name eventually to Star Hustler.
[Star Hustler Show Audio]: Some people hustle pool; some people hustle cars. Then there's that man you've heard about the one who hustles stars, Jack Horkheimer Star Hustler.
James Albury: And I was nine years old when that show first aired, but everyone in Miami knew Jack and we all knew the planetarium. So, it was very popular.
[Star Hustler Show Audio]: And now here to tell you all about tonight's sky and the biggest show of all the universe, your Star Hustler, Jack Horkheimer.
James Albury: So, he was kind of like, almost like the car salesman, kind of trying to get people interested in the night sky and excite them about it.
[Star Hustler Show Audio]: Greetings, greetings, fellow stargazers, and right off the bat, just so you don't forget, remember to go outside at least one clear night a week right after sunset!
James Albury: So the fact that I eventually was given the opportunity to host the show that inspired me as a youngster and follow in the footsteps and carry on Jack's legacy meant a lot to me.
When he passed, they continued the show and they had guest hosts and you were, I believe, the third host that they had. And you had, I think, the most energy. You connected very well with the subject matter and with communication with the public.
[Star Gazers Show Audio]: The moon shows you the way to Venus and Mercury Plus, which is the shortest season. Hey there, stargazers. I'm Dean Regas from the Cincinnati Observatory, and I'll be your guest host this month on Star Gazer.
James Albury: And I think it was at that same time that I submitted my demo recording to the producers there, and they liked me, so they decided to pair us together.
Dean Regas: Well, and I remember meeting you for the first time and at first I was just like, all right, well let's test out the new guy here. Let's see how he is.
And I was pleasantly surprised because there are very few people into astronomy more than me and you, sir, are one of those people. You won me over by your sheer geekiness for the subject and passion and genuine love of astronomy. It's very rare, man.
James Albury: Oh, thank you very much. I'm honored. Sometimes the stuff that's cool happens in the morning when most people… only if you're walking your dog, or you're driving to work early will you get to see it.
But yeah, thank you very much for the compliment. My space nerdiness, precedes me apparently.
Dean Regas: And so, in your vast experience, what is the absolute coolest thing you have personally seen in the sky as well as maybe the space story or event that most inspired the general public?
James Albury: Ah, well that would be easy. The solar eclipse in 2017 was the most amazing thing that I've experienced astronomically. Seeing it and experiencing it for the first time was amazing. I still have video of that experience that we'd recorded for Star Gazers, and I was decidedly giddy during the eclipse because it just looked amazing.
[James Albury Reacting to 2017 Solar Eclipse]: This is so cool. Oh my God. Oh, and you're gonna see the diamond ring in a second. Wow. Okay. And totality. Okay. Take off your shades. Take off your shades. Look at the Corona. Oh my god, that's so beautiful. Oh my god, that's beautiful. Oh. Oh wow. Look at that. Wow. Oh my gosh.
Dean Regas: So, and then, so do you think, would that be the same answer then for the public is you think a total solar eclipse is the thing that the public gets most inspired by? Or is there something else, some other story that maybe you've seen?
James Albury: I think one of the things that I found that really helps with engaging the public when it comes to science is if there's an astronomical event that's gonna be happening, and it's relatively rare, if you can promote it. Jack Horkheimer used to call it, “hype it up.”
Dean Regas: Well, speaking of hype stories, what is the most over-hyped astronomy story you've dealt with? You know, the thing, that's not really a thing, but the media thinks it's a thing?
James Albury: Super moons are one of them. It's like, hey, the moon's gonna be like super big. And it's like, no. It's like comparing a 14-inch pizza with a 16-inch pizza from across a 30 foot room. You're not gonna see much of a difference, but, eh, if you're a keen moon observer. It at least gets you outside to look at the moon, particularly when the full moon rises.
Dean Regas: You know, I just play an astronomer on tv, but you have an actual astronomy degree. What advice would you give to someone who wanted to either do what we do or even someone wanting to discover like, their own path in astronomy?
James Albury: Yeah, if you're a young person wanting to go to college to study astronomy, the American Astronomical Society has an entire section of their website about careers in astronomy. You can go into science communication through the planetarium route like I did, or you can go through like Dean did, through observatories or science centers like museums.
That's how I got started. I just happened to visit the planetarium in Miami when I was 13 years old, and I saw a show that Jack Horkheimer had produced back in 1972, called Child of the Universe.
[Child of the Universe Planetarium Show Audio]: But your experiments have been designed to prove your theory correct, Galileo? My experiments have often proved theories incorrect as well, your eminence.
James Albury: And I was so impressed by the storyline and all the technology that I went up to the console operator that day and I asked, how do you get to do what you do for a living? And during our conversation, he invited me to come over on the weekends and be an apprentice.
I got to sit behind the console and watch him. He showed me how to find constellations. That was one of the most important questions I'd ever asked in my life, and I didn't realize it would shape my destiny.
[Child of the Universe Planetarium Show Audio]: We call ourselves the masters of this planet, our planet, the earth.
Dean Regas: Well, so I was gonna get to your latest project, so it's called The Sky Above Us. It's an internet show where you can continue sharing your knowledge and passion for the night sky. And so, what's the theme of The Sky Above Us and where can people find it?
James Albury: So, The Sky Above Us is my way of continuing what I was doing with you on Star Gazers. I try to find out what's happening in the night sky, and every two weeks or so I'll post an episode.
The nice thing about doing my own program on YouTube is that I can choose any topic I want. And two of my favorite episodes that I made, one was called, “The Stars of Star Trek”. We visit some of the stars that are mentioned in the Star Trek genre.
And the other one is called, “What is a Parsec?” Everyone who's watched Star Wars episode four and is an astronomer cringes when they get to that scene, when Han Solo says, yeah, have you heard the Millennium Falcon? We made the Kessel run in only 12 parsecs. And it's like, no. A parsec is a measure of distance, not speed. So, I kind of explained how he did that based on the retcon that they did in Solo:A Star Wars Story. So that's a fun one to look for.
Dean Regas: Well, this has been great, James. Memories of Star Gazers and I definitely miss it, working with you. Hopefully we do some more stuff in the future. You're always super excited, full of energy and really excited about your projects, so thanks for taking the time to chat today.
James Albury: Yeah. Well, Dean, I want to thank you so much for continuing what you do.
Dean Regas: All right, well, I got three more overhyped astronomy stories for you. And you know, I don't know if you guys are getting as mad as I am, but I'm getting worked up.
There's the penumbral lunar eclipse story that is when the moon goes in the shadow of the earth. That is the lighter part of the earth's shadow. That is the part that you actually can hardly even tell the difference with the naked eye.
So, they always get it wrong. They're like, yeah, look for it. You might see it like, Nope, nope, nope. You won't see it. So penumbral, lunar eclipse, put in the lame category.
Things that are coming up that seem to always happen more frequently are those stories about the meteors that will almost hit us. You know what I'm talking about. You know, there's like the rock that they just discovered and maybe it's gonna hit the earth. Maybe it won't hit the earth. Tune in to find out or read this article.
And there's a real famous one called Apophis that comes around every so often that you'll probably see on there. Don't worry, we figured out it's not gonna hit us.
The one that was kind of curious earlier in the year, was that 2024 YR4, that was the name of the meteor. They need a better one for their press release, but that's just my opinion. And this was supposed to hit the earth. Well, they were thinking it might hit the earth and then the chances of it went down to nothing. But now guess what? It's back and it might hit the moon in 2032. Yeah, keep watching. Well, I'm sure it won't.
And then one more is a story that comes around about every five years or so. About when the star Betelgeuse will explode. And yes, the star Betelgeuse is a red supergiant that will explode in a supernova explosion, the likes of which we haven't seen since 1604. That is all true, but we don't know when it will happen, and the articles always say, oh yeah, it might happen this week. It might happen next week. It might happen next month. Nobody knows.
But it's great to write an article with no real answer. I love it. I need to write more articles like that. I know I'm getting worked up. I know, I know. Okay. I shouldn't let these over hype stories get me down. I actually think they have some benefits.
I mean, if it gets people outside and looking up, even if they don't see a meteor hitting the moon, they still might have an unexpectedly nice evening under the stars. So, if that's what it takes, even the buzzkill astronomer will keep looking up.
Looking up with Dean Regas is a production of Cincinnati Public Radio. Kevin Reynolds and I created the podcast in 2017. Ella Rowen and Carlos Lopez Cornu produce and edit our show and always say that any over-hyped press is good press. Yeah, there's something to that.
Jenell Walton is our Vice President of Content, and Ronny Salerno is our digital platforms manager. Our theme song is, “Possible Light” by Ziv Moran. Our social media coordinator is Hannah McFarland, and our cover art is by Nicole Tiffany. I'm Dean Regas…
[Star Gazers Show Audio, Jack Horkheimer]: Keep looking up!
[Star Gazers Show Audio, WPBT Sign-off]: Goodnight.
