RIP Sir Patrick Moore :-(
Any amateur astronomers out there will be saddened to learn that Sir Patrick Moore, host of "The Sky At Night", has passed away at age 89 following a short illness.
Sir Patrick Moore dies at 89: Broadcaster passed away peacefully at home with close friends and his cat Ptolemy | Mail Online
He was a pretty interesting character, even if you have no interest in astronomy:
Sir Patrick Moore dies at 89: Broadcaster passed away peacefully at home with close friends and his cat Ptolemy | Mail Online
He was a pretty interesting character, even if you have no interest in astronomy:
- He wrote over 170 books on a 100-year-old typewriter (and was a self-admitted '2 finger typist').
- He published his first scientific paper at age 13.
- His lunar research was used by both the Soviet Union and the US to help them reach the moon.
- He served with RAF Bomber Command from 1940 to 1945, having lied about his age and faked his medical to boot. Reportedly, after one mission, he had to climb over his dead crew mates to land his crippled Lancaster bomber safely.
- His fiancee, Lorna, was killed by an air-raid in WW2, and he never looked at another woman in the 70 years since, once remarking "there was no one else for me ... second best is no good for me...".
- His was an ardent opponent of blood sports, always carried a chess set in his pockets, hated Germany, visited all seven continents, supported the Official Monster Raving Loony Party,appeared as a Time Lord on his own tv show, and, for an April Fool's Day spoof in the 70s, announced on BBC radio that, at 9.47 am, a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to occur that meant, if listeners jumped at that exact moment, they would float in the air... after which the BBC was flooded with calls from people reporting having experienced exactly that
Sal
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