Sir Patrick Moore 1923-2012

[vandermolen]

Sad to hear of the death of legendary BBC TV Astronomer Sir Patrick Moore at the age of 89. He had appeared in every episode except one (due to food poisoning) of 'The Sky at Night' for 55 years. I doubt whether this will ever be equalled. He was a wonderfully eccentric and informative part of the TV of my youth and inspired my own (very amateur) interest in Astronomy. He would have been horrified by my daughter (on the phone from India tonight) asking me if he was an 'Astrologer'  . He was happy to send himself up however and was impersonated by many TV comedians in an age of gentler TV comedy.

Probably this is of marginal, if any, interest outside of the UK. He was a composer and musician too and played the Xylophone with distinction. Played 'At the Castle Gate' from Sibelius's 'Pelleas and Mellisande' (theme music from 'The Sky at Night') in tribute tonight (Beecham RPO - from Sibelius's 90th birthday concert). Apparently he passed away at home surrounded by close friends, carers and his cat Ptolemy.

[Opus106]

I learnt of his demise a few hours ago. An enthusiastic astronomer if there was ever one, conducting his show even this late in life. Although I've known about him for some years now, I have not read (m)any of his books. But I've seen a few episodes of the The Sky at Night, whenever it popped in to the schedule of the BBC World here.

[vandermolen]

I learnt of his demise a few hours ago. An enthusiastic astronomer if there was ever one, conducting his show even this late in life. Although I've known about him for some years now, I have not read (m)any of his books. But I've seen a few episodes of the The Sky at Night, whenever it popped in to the schedule of the BBC World here.

Nice to hear that. I was talking to my daughter on the phone in Chennai earlier
today.