Sir Patrick Moore dies, aged 89

[BigAl]

From Sky News:

Astronomer and broadcaster Sir Patrick Moore has died at his home at the age of 89, a group of his friends and staff say.

The broadcaster "passed away peacefully at 12.25pm this afternoon", in Selsey, West Sussex, they said in a statement.

It added: "After a short spell in hospital last week, it was determined that no further treatment would benefit him, and it was his wish to spend his last days in his own home, Farthings, where he today passed on, in the company of close friends and carers and his cat Ptolemy."

Sir Patrick, who celebrated the 55th anniversary of his programme, The Sky At Night, in April, had battled ill health in recent years.

Sir Patrick in 2007 at the launch of Royal Mail space-inspired stamps

The stargazer had been using a wheelchair and was unable to look through a telescope.

He died after failing to fight an infection.

The statement went on: "Over the past few years, Patrick, an inspiration to generations of astronomers, fought his way back from many serious spells of illness and continued to work and write at a great rate, but this time his body was too weak to overcome the infection which set in, a few weeks ago.

"He was able to perform on his world record-holding TV Programme The Sky at Night right up until the most recent episode.

Queen guitarist Brian May said Sir Patrick was a 'dear friend'
"His executors and close friends plan to fulfil his wishes for a quiet ceremony of interment, but a farewell event is planned for what would have been Patrick's 90th birthday in March 2013."

Queen guitarist Brian May paid tribute to a "dear friend and a kind of father figure to me".

He said: "Patrick will be mourned by the many to whom he was a caring uncle, and by all who loved the delightful wit and clarity of his writings, or enjoyed his fearlessly eccentric persona in public life.

"Patrick is irreplaceable. There will never be another Patrick Moore. But we were lucky enough to get one."

Sir Patrick was awarded a knighthood in 2001
Speaking at a party to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the BBC programme, Sir Patrick said he hoped the stargazing series would continue "indefinitely".

The last programme was broadcast on Monday.

Sir Patrick has only missed one episode since it began in 1957 when he was struck down by food poisoning.

His trademark monocle, unique delivery and occasional performances on the xylophone made him a familiar target for satirists and impressionists, but his scientific credentials were never in doubt.

And we were only watching an episode of his show that he recorded the other day not long before this. Such a shame. R.I.P

 

[Tom]

I remember him in my younger years primarily from GamesMaster, but I saw the Sky at Night a few times over the years and it was quite captivating. A sad loss.

 

[DiogoJ42]

Ah, Gamesmaster <3 He was also the narrator (on a screen) for the original west end production of Return To The Forbidden Plannet.
He was heavily involved in the Apollo programe... as well as so many, many other things.

I bet tomorrow's front pages are all about X Factor, rather than the loss of one of the greatest scientific minds of our time :

 

[Jem8472]

It is a great loss. I can gladly say that the front of the EDP did not have any xfactor rubbish on it. Also there was a whole page about Patrick Moore.

I remember him as the games master, helping those idiot kids make it past the first level of Sonic the hedgehog. :

I never really watched the sky at night but I have a lot of respect for the work he did, I know he did work on the Apollo missions and I am sure there is lots of stuff he did that I will not know about. Its a shame we we lose someone that has done so much good work for our understanding of the universe.

 

[DiogoJ42]

I worked on a couple of episodes of Sky at Night many years ago, and his off screen persona was exactly what you would expect. A really nice guy.

 

[Martin]

He did a lot of good for science and astronomy.

Just a shame he was a bit racist,sexist and homophobic really.

 

[delta79]

A lot of people from his generation are, unfortunately.

Patrick did may thing to improve the understanding of Astronomy and Populating it. Including.
Creating the Caldwell Catalogue
discovering the transient lunar phenomenon
and 50 years of sky at night.

outside of Astronomy. we was a cricket player, interested in music including being a self taught pianist and xylophone player. he was also a keen amateur chess player, and was vice president of Sussex Junior Chess Association.

He was an fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Was a officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) then later promoted to commander of the British Empire (CBE). then he was knighted for "services to the popularisation of science and to broadcasting"

All in all from a childhood that was marked by heart problems, which left him in poor health. and starting his Astronomy career running a small observatory in East Grinstead at the age of 14. He did wonderful stuff for science.