About Dennis
For nearly five decades, Dennis Mammana has delivered the wonder and mystery of the
cosmos to audiences around the world.
Dennis was born and raised in Easton, PA, a historic city at the
confluence of the Lehigh and Delaware rivers, and his
fascination with the heavens began with the launching of the first
Earth-orbiting satellites in the late 1950s.
With a degree in physics and astronomy from Otterbein College
(now Otterbein University), he was one of only two astronomy
graduate students admitted to Vanderbilt University in 1973. His
research there included a year-long photometric study of optical
variability in the nuclei of three distant Seyfert galaxies using the
24-inch (0.61-meter) telescope of the Arthur J. Dyer Observatory.
After earning his M.S. in astronomy, Dennis was
selected from a field of 55 applicants for a coveted
one-year internship at the world-famous
Strasenburgh Planetarium and has since held
positions at the Smithsonian Institution's National
Air & Space Museum, the University of Arizona, and
San Diego's Reuben H. Fleet Space Theatre &
Science Center. His original planetarium programs
have been enjoyed from New York to Calcutta to
Brisbane, and in their production, he has directed
such luminaries as actors Burgess Meredith, Patrick
Stewart, and others, and has collaborated with science fiction icon Arthur C. Clarke on a
planetarium adaptation of Clarke’s famous short story “Wind from the Sun”.
A longtime member of the National Association of Science Writers, Dennis is the author of
six books on popular astronomy―including the first-ever book about the search for extra-
solar planetary systems―as well as hundreds of popular magazine and encyclopedia
articles, planetarium and video scripts and blogs. Since 1992, he has written Stargazers,
the only syndicated weekly newspaper column about astronomy.
As an accomplished night sky photographer, his stunning celestial images have earned
him an invited membership in TWAN (The World at Night). He is one of
only six Americans on this elite international team of the most
experienced and highly acclaimed night sky
photographers on the planet. His work has
appeared in books, videos, international
magazines, and exhibitions, and has been
featured nine times as NASA’s Astronomy
Picture of the Day and dozens of times on the
front page of Spaceweather.
A dynamic public speaker, Dennis has entertained, inspired, and
informed audiences at resorts, museums, corporate events and on
cruise ships, including Sitmar, Radisson Seven Seas, Hurtigruten, Royal Caribbean,
Carnival, Regent Seven Seas and more. In early 2021, he was scheduled to return for his
25th year as an invited enrichment lecturer with Crystal Cruises, but
that voyage was canceled by COVID-19. He will be joining Crystal
again in August of 2024, as well as making his debut appearance on
Silversea in December of 2024.
Since 1986, Dennis has been a featured lecturer on many public
observing and sky photo expeditions to more than 50 countries on
six continents. He has traveled to the Arctic and Subarctic more than
30 times over the past two decades to view, photograph and lecture
about the aurora borealis (the northern lights), and has witnessed
and photographed 18 total solar eclipses.
He has hosted a weekly astronomy news segment on San Diego's
KUSI-TV and co-hosted "Quarks to Quasars" on UCSD-TV as well as
the Emmy Award-winning documentary "San Diego Night Sky" with
KPBS-TV. He is a recipient of the Robert Burnham Jr., Award for Exceptional Service in
Astronomy from the Astronomical League and the Special Achievement Award from
Otterbein College. In 2009 his contributions to the community of Borrego Springs (the first
International Dark Sky Community in California) were honored as he was named Grand
Marshal of the 44th Annual Borrego Days Desert Festival.
Dennis now works as an astronomy writer, lecturer, and photographer under the clear, dark
skies of Southern California's Anza-Borrego Desert. To learn more about him and his work,
please "Like" and follow him on Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter) so you don't
miss any of his upcoming events!
Bet you didn’t know…
Dennis’ first views and photos of
“unseen worlds” came not through a
telescope, but a microscope. This led
to him winning a Grand Championship
in an elementary school science fair
project.
While growing up, he had the unusual
hobby of collecting license plates. His
unique collection of U.S. and foreign
license plates won four consecutive
World Championships (1964-67).
During his senior year of high school,
his football team outscored its
opponents by a whopping 317-72 and
finished the 1968 season ranked 1
st
in
Pennsylvania. He sat out five games
with a broken left hand.
During his junior and senior years of
college, he served as President of the
Epsilon Chapter of the Sigma Zeta
National Science & Mathematics
Honor Society.
On the evening of Nov. 16, 1971,
Otterbein College’s roof-top
observatory in which he was working
caught fire. There were no injuries, but
the telescope and observatory were
destroyed.
In early January of 1986, he was a
candidate for NASA’s Journalist in
Space program. Just weeks later the
Space Shuttle Challenger accident
grounded the fleet and the program
was canceled.
When not spending time with his head
in the stars, he enjoys cooking Italian
food, sports, weight-training,
exploring the desert canyons in his
4x4, watching reruns of Gunsmoke,
taking naps, and relentlessly pursuing
the perfect Philly cheesesteak
sandwich―not necessarily in that
order.