There are probably more than seven ways that a black hole can kill you.

But for Phil Plait, the seven ways he included during a talk Feb. 28 and 29 at Fiske Planetarium are perhaps the most fun.

The deadly actions range from just falling into a black hole, to being fried by its radiation to what he likes to call spaghettification.

Yes, he maintains jokingly. That is a technical term.

Plait, also known as the Bad Astronomer, is somewhat of a celebrity in astronomy circles. His Web site, www.badastronomy.com, receives between one and two million hits each month, and about half that many unique visitors, according to Plait.

"When I started out, I'd get maybe 20 people a month, and I'd think, 'awesome,'" Plait said in an e-mail. "I think it's fantastic that so many people are interested in astronomy."

Plait, a recent Boulder transplant from California, has three degrees: a bachelor of science from the University of Michigan and a master's degree and a doctorate in astronomy from the University of Virginia.

From an early age, his father shaped his love for astronomy.

"My dad showed me Saturn through a small telescope he picked up one day," Plait said. "My parents were very supportive of me, and helped a lot. I have literally wanted to be an astronomer my whole life."

His family also has played a role.

"My wife and daughter have been really great in supporting me with this as well," Plait said. "The site ate up a lot of time years ago when there wasn't any clue it would ever be more than a lark, but they put up with me."

Plait started the Bad Astronomy Web site in 1993 while he was at the University of Virginia working on his doctorate. He says that he bought the domain name in 1998, and considers that the beginning of the actual site.

"Since then, I've written nearly 2,500 posts and had 70,000 comments left by readers," Plait said.

As if maintaining a Web site with that much content wasn't enough, Plait also gives lectures and talks with groups about the ins and outs of astronomy. Talking with children about astronomy, however, is one of his favorite things to do.

"(Children) ask a lot of questions and a lot of times I've been stumped by them," Plait said. "But that's okay. I want them to see that scientists don't always have the answers and there's a lot of things that we still don't understand."

Phil moved to Boulder to work on his new book, Death From The Skies! The book is due out in October. Phil describes the book as "disaster writ large," and uses it to debunk some of the scare tactics certain people use to frighten the population.

"I take care to talk about how low the odds are of any of these events actually doing any harm to us," Plait said. "In fact, the only two dangers that are common and likely are those we can actually prevent or mitigate: asteroid impacts and solar flares."

Plait finds his celebrity status among his readers to be an interesting part of just writing a blog and a Web site.

"It's a little weird thinking that these people are actually your fans," Plait said. "It's fantastic to know that there are so many people out there motivated by the same things I am."

But Plait hasn't let his Web stardom go to his head.

"I may be big in the science blogging field, but compared to what's out there on the Web as a whole, I'm in a small pond," Plait said. "Still, the water's nice here."