Meet astronomer Billy Hix
TRIPP HAMMOND
MCHS Student Journalist
Billy Hix grew up in rural poverty, in a school where the very idea of college was painted as a sin. Teachers cautioned students daily against higher education, and in the chaos of the 1960s, Hix often felt out of place – until he found comfort in the quiet company of the night sky.
“I would sit outside and watch the stars come up – over and over, season after season – and they became my friends,” Hix recalled. “No matter what happened in my day, the stars would come up and make me feel good.”
Astronomy captured Hix’s imagination long before he knew what an astronomer really did. On a hot Tennessee farm where beef cattle and tobacco were the family business, he dreamed of cool nights and stargazing instead of sticky fieldwork.
He became obsessed with NASA missions that were racing toward the moon. He confidently told his 4-H group in the fifth grade that he would work for NASA. For that declaration, he was punished.
It was a moment that could’ve ended the dream. Instead, it became fuel.
Though astronomy took a back seat through high school and college, Hix never stopped learning. He attended Tennessee Tech, where he majored in computer science and music performance, thanks partly to a music scholarship that made college possible.
“It was the greatest thing that ever happened to me,” he said. “It took a little country boy and built up my confidence. It set me up for success for the rest of my life.”
That success would eventually lead him to NASA – first through computer science and later, through astronomy research, thanks to a colleague who brought him into cosmic projects he’d only imagined as a child.
“I was lucky that I was doing what I could only dream of when I was in the fifth grade,” he said.
Hix has since earned multiple degrees, including undergraduate studies in computer science and music performance, as well as graduate degrees in information systems and science education, and has maintained a lifelong interest in astronomy courses.
“There have not been many times during my life that I was not taking a class,” he said. “I love learning.”
Today, Hix shares his love for science with two very different groups: elementary students and university students. He brings the cosmos to life with younger kids through his portable planetarium.
“Most kids are really wowed – or upset – when they find out that the Andromeda galaxy is going to eat the Milky Way,” he laughed.
But this year’s most significant “wow moment” came from letting students listen to the sound of a star being consumed by a black hole in galaxy M87.
With older students, Hix finds joy in inspiring deep understanding. “Teaching is not a job where you just go to work. Your task is to inspire,” he said. “There’s nothing on this planet that is dull if you just know enough about it.”
Yet Hix is also realistic about the current challenges facing science education in the United States. “At a time when our children need to know more about STEM, there is a greater percentage of adults who are clueless about the methods of science,” he said. “It’s hard to work with children on one side and deal with adults on the other.”
Despite this, Hix remains hopeful. He advocates for an educational approach where STEM isn’t siloed but infused across all subjects. He especially delights in showing ELA teachers the cosmic roots of “Harry Potter” names like Bellatrix, a star once feared by the Greeks for its mysterious brightness changes. “The smarter you are, the more you will understand about the world around you,” he said.
Looking ahead, Hix is most excited about a planetary conjunction in August, when Venus and Jupiter will appear to nearly collide in the sky. But he also finds wonder in simpler things: a full moon rising or the winter solstice.
If one experience stands out in Hix’s extraordinary journey, he was invited to Chile in 2019 as a science ambassador. “I spent as many nights as possible on mountain tops up and down the Andes,” he said. “I have seen sights that just take your breath away.”
Then, in January 2024, came another unbelievable call: an invitation from the Vatican to study at their observatory as one of six U.S. astronomy educators. “There was one night we had a service in a roofless church next to the observatory, looking up at the stars. And then we started our observing run,” he said.
“All I could think about was the journey I had traveled to be at that spot.”
Throughout it all, Hix never forgets those who helped him along the way. “My mom was always my biggest cheerleader,” he said. “There were five or six people who showed up at just the right time and gave of themselves to make my journey possible.”
That journey has now rippled outward. Hix estimates that around 1,150 classroom teachers and administrators were once his students. At Lynchburg Elementary School, nearly 30% of the staff, including the principal and assistant principal, are former pupils.
“Long after I am gone, there will be people who are working that I made a difference for,” Hix said. “And it does not get much better than that.”
