Posts Tagged ‘astronomy’
Sir Patrick Moore dies at 89
British astronomer and broadcaster Sir Patrick Moore has died, aged 89, his friends and colleagues have said.
He “passed away peacefully at 12:25 BST this afternoon” at his home in Selsey, West Sussex, they 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.
He will also be remembered for being the Games Master, during the golden age of video games 1992-98 on Channel 4. As a young teenager the hallowed golden joystick that contenders on the show won was an accolade to aspire to, and the games featured something other than football to bond with classmates.
Through that, and a friend of my father who had co written a book with him, I started to develop an interest in the heavens. Now with apps which allow you to know exactly what it is you are looking at the night sky beats much that late night TV has to offer. “Sky at Night” being a noticeable exception.
However, there was something else besides popularising astronomy that you can see below that we will remember Patrick for:
Article written by John Sargeant on Homo economicus’ Weblog
Follow @JPSargeant78
A picture of the Galaxy and us
Chatting to Splendidelles, she linked me to Astronomy Picture of the Day this one being 5th September’s:
Which got me thinking about Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot:
SplendidElles is the kid you knew in school was going to go places; the promise of her year. Catching me out on Douglas Adams (who I freely admit did like milk in Earl Grey and not just tea) – though as he says if you want lemon have lemon and screw whatever people say you should have.
Which probably sums up her attitude to people who think that a 15 year old should not be excited at the thought of 67 year old scientists, building telescopes in the back yard, or caring about the US constitution and the wall of separation between church and state.
My prediction is that she will be a big thing in secularist politics in the years to come.
