Patrick Moore

Sir Patrick Caldwell-Moore

British astronomer and broadcaster Sir Patrick Caldwell-Moore, better known as Patrick Moore died today, aged 89. He "passed away peacefully at 12:25 this afternoon" at his home in Selsey, West Sussex, friends and colleagues said in a statement. Sir Patrick presented the BBC programme The Sky At Night for over 50 years, making him the longest-running host of the same television show ever. He wrote dozens of books on astronomy and his research was used by the US and the Russians in their space programmes. Described by one of his close friends as "fearlessly eccentric", Sir Patrick was notable for his habit of wearing a monocle on screen and his idiosyncratic style.

Queen guitarist Brian May, who holds a PhD in astrophysics, led the chorus of praise, saying the world had "lost a priceless treasure that can never be replaced" and he had lost a "dear friend and kind of father figure". May said in a statement: "Patrick was the last of a lost generation, a true gentleman, the most generous in nature that I ever knew, and an inspiration to thousands in his personal life, and to millions through his 50 years of unique broadcasting. "It's no exaggeration to say that Patrick, in his tireless and ebullient communication of the magic of astronomy, inspired every British astronomer, amateur and professional, for half a century.” Moore was the author of more than sixty books on astronomy.

Brian May and Patrick Moore

Sir Patrick presented the first edition of The Sky at Night on 24 April 1957. He last appeared in an episode broadcast on Monday. A statement by his friends and staff said: "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. "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 a person of trenchant views which were often reactionary about immigration, gay relationships and Germany. Some of this may be the result of his upbringing being largely educated at home and his father being ill for his formative years. Moore was also a self-taught xylophone and piano player, as well as an accomplished composer and a former amateur cricketer, golfer and chess player. In addition to his many popular science books, he wrote numerous works of fiction and featured on the 1990s TV series GamesMaster. He was an opponent of fox hunting, an outspoken critic of the European Union and served as chairman of the short-lived anti-immigration United Country Party before becoming a patron of the UK Independence Party. He served in the Royal Air Force during World War II; his fiancée, Lorna, was killed by a bomb during the war and he never married or had children. In his autobiography he stated that after sixty years he still thought about her, and that because of her death "if I saw the entire German nation sinking into the sea, I could be relied upon to help push it down."

Moore was born in Pinner in Middlesex on 4 March 1923 to Captain Charles Trachsel Caldwell-Moore MC (died 1947) and Gertrude, née White (died 1981) and moved to Bognor Regis, and later East Grinstead (both in Sussex), where he spent his childhood. His father won the Military Cross in World War I and Moore has stated “My father was a very unlucky man. He went through the trenches in the First World War and won an MC. He was on course to become a general but he swallowed a lungful of German gas and that wrecked his career completely.” He also said that he was "exceptionally close" to his mother Gertrude, a talented artist who lived with him at his Selsey home, which is still adorned with her paintings of "bogeys" – little friendly aliens – which she regularly produced and which were sent out annually as the Moores' Christmas cards. Moore lied about his age in order to join the RAF and fight in World War II at the age of sixteen, and from 1940 until 1945 he served as a navigator in RAF Bomber Command, reaching the rank of Flight lieutenant. He first received his flying training in Canada, during which time he met Albert Einstein and Orville Wright while on leave in New York indeed he and Einstein played a musical duet with Einstein on violin and Moore on piano playing The Swan by Camille Saint-Saëns.

Moore had both actual and ancestral Irish connections. In 1965, he was appointed Director of the newly constructed Armagh Planetarium in Northern Ireland, a post he held until 1968. His stay outside England would be short partly because of the beginning of the The Troubles, a dispute Moore wanted no part of. He was appointed Armagh County secretary for the Scout movement, but resigned after he was told Catholics could not be admitted. In developing the Planetarium, Moore travelled to Japan to secure a Goto Mars projector. He also helped with the redevelopment of the Birr Telescope in the Republic of Ireland. The great telescope at Birr was completed in 1845 by William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse. At the time it was the largest telescope on earth, and capable of capturing more light and seeing further into space than any telescope had done before. Birr therefore became a focus for astronomical observations, and visitors came to visit the observatory from all over the world - including Charles Babbage and Napoléon Eugène, Prince Imperial. Lord Snowdon is a scion of the Parsons family and another descendant Sir Charles Parsons invented the reactive turbine.

Caldwell Catalogue Star Chart

Patrick Moore compiled The Caldwell Catalogue of 109 bright star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies for observation by amateur astronomers, as a complement to the Messier Catalogue. Moore used his other surname to name the list as M for Moore was already taken by Messier, and the catalogue adopts "C" numbers to rename objects with more common designations. He was an opponent of fox hunting and blood sports. Though not a vegetarian, he stated that he held "a deep contempt for people who go out to kill merely to amuse themselves." He was a lifelong animal lover, actively supporting many animal welfare charities (particularly Cats Protection). He had a particular affinity for cats and stated that "a catless house is a soulless house"

Caldwell Catalogue montage of Star Objects

Like most people Patrick Moore was a complex person with some silly and some objectionable views. Having said, that I have been somewhat astonished by the extreme views seen on social media after his death.  I often wonder why people feel the need to abuse the dead. Yes he was a reactionary and his politics were not mine but his antipathy to Europe was conditioned by his war service where he was brave, most of his friends died and his fiancé was killed when the ambulance she was driving was hit by a bomb. He never married and he seems to have been a person of extremes which had its pluses and minuses. He was also one of the first persons into Dachau and no doubt this affected his view that England should in some way remain a place apart. Prior to his UKIP support he was treasurer of the Raving Monster Looney Party which suggests he was not over ideological! We should debate in a free society with people like Patrick Moore as he was probably a complex character and acknowledge his overall substantial and positive contribution during his long life and not engage in easy insults when they are dead. Personally I would prefer a talented person with flaws to a talentless non-entity any day.