Sky News Australia host Piers Morgan questions astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson on the existence of a God.

“What I’ll tell you – there are a lot of unknowns in the universe but just because there are unknowns does not mean there is a deity in the unknown,” Mr deGrasse Tyson told Sky News Australia host Piers Morgan.

Mr deGrasse Tyson said everyone should be open-minded about the “unknown”.

“But the track record of people saying God is behind this, and then you add a little science to it, and you find out that we can completely explain it and control it.

“Then the history of that exercise is so rich with science discovering the unknowns that were previously ascribed to deity, like lightning bolts and weather systems – there was Poseidon, there was Zeus.

“I’m not given reason to say, we’re going to find something God is going to be at the centre at and there’ll be no science to apply – I’m going to look at the science first.”