The final edition of The Sky at Night to feature Sir Patrick Moore aired last night on BBC 1 (and will be showing again as an extended episode on BBC 4 later in the week), so this seems like a timely moment to share a few thoughts I originally posted on the Sky at Night Flickr group a few weeks ago.
Many moons ago, my mum wrote to Sir Patrick, asking him for advice on what telescope to buy her astronomy-obsessed son, and he very kindly sent one of his famous hand-typed letters in reply, offering his usual brand of no-nonsense wisdom.
Years later, after going on to study astronomy at university, I was fortunate enough to attend one of Sir Patrick's BAA lectures at the University of Kent, in which he spoke about Mars for an hour (without notes). It was the period straight after lunch (a tough time to give a lecture), but he kept the whole audience captivated with his energy and boundless enthusiasm.
And just last month, I was watching The Sky at Night on BBC 4 when I was pleasantly surprised to see one of my photos featured in an item about the planet Mercury.
RIP Sir Patrick, and thanks for everything. You will be missed.
See also:
The Sky at Night on BBC iPlayer (available until Sunday 13 January)
The Sky at Night programme page
BBC Stargazing LIVE (starts Tuesday 7 January)
BBC Sky at Night and Stargazing LIVE Flickr page
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