Sir Alfred Patrick Caldwell-Moore,
CBEThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions...
,
HonFRSAn Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society is a person elected under special criteria to Fellowship of the Royal Society. They are ineligible in the other criteria for election as a Fellow or Foreign Member but have "rendered signal service to the cause of science, or whose election would...
,
FRASThe Royal Astronomical Society is a learned society that began as the Astronomical Society of London in 1820 to support astronomical research . It became the Royal Astronomical Society in 1831 on receiving its Royal Charter from William IV...
(born 4 March 1923 in
PinnerPinner is a suburb in the London Borough of Harrow in Greater London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. The area was in the county of Middlesex until 1965, when it was absorbed by the London Government Act 1963 into Greater London....
) known as
Patrick Moore, is an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
amateur astronomerAmateur astronomy, also called backyard astronomy, is a hobby whose participants enjoy watching the night sky , and the plethora of objects found in it, mainly with portable telescopes and binoculars...
who has attained prominent status in astronomy as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter of the subject, and who is credited as having done more than any other to raise the profile of astronomy among the British general public. He was born to Captain Charles Trachsel Caldwell-Moore
MCThe Military Cross is the third level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
(died 1947) and Gertrude, née White (died 1981 aged 94).
Sir Patrick was always very close to his mother, a talented artist who lived with him at his
SelseySelsey is a seaside town and civil parish, about seven miles south of Chichester, in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. Selsey lies at the southernmost point of the Manhood Peninsula, a small island almost cut off from mainland Sussex by the sea...
home, which is still colourfully decorated with many paintings of "bogeys" – little friendly aliens – which she regularly produced and which were sent out annually as Moore's Christmas cards.
He is a former president of the
British Astronomical AssociationThe British Astronomical Association, BAA, is the senior national association of amateur astronomers in the UK.It was founded in London in 1890. It encourages observational astronomy by non-professionals in areas which cannot be covered by professional observatories...
, co-founder and former president of the
Society for Popular AstronomyThe Society for Popular Astronomy is Britain's leading astronomical society for beginners to amateur astronomy with a membership exceeding 3,000 in 2005....
, author of over 70 books on astronomy, and presenter of the longest running television series (with the same original presenter),
The Sky at NightThe Sky at Night is a monthly television programme on astronomy produced by the BBC. The show has had the same permanent presenter, Sir Patrick Moore, from its first airing on 24 April 1957, making it the longest-running programme with the same presenter in television history.The programme's...
on the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
. As an amateur astronomer, he became known as a specialist on observing the
moonThe Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System. The average centre-to-centre distance from the Earth to the Moon is , about thirty times the diameter of the Earth. The common centre of mass of the system is located at about —a quarter the Earth's...
. Idiosyncrasies such as his rapid diction and his
monocleA monocle is a type of corrective lens used to correct the vision in only one eye. It consists of a circular lens, generally with a wire ring around the circumference that can be attached to a string. The other end of the string is then connected to the wearer's clothing to avoid losing the monocle...
have made him a popular figure on other British television shows (including his appearance as the
GamesmasterGamesMaster was a British television show, screened on Channel 4 from 7 January 1992 to 3 February 1998, and was the first-ever UK television show dedicated to computer and video games.-Origins:...
).
Sir Patrick is also an entirely self-taught musician and an accomplished composer. His favourite genres are 19th century Viennese waltzes and marches, but he has also turned to ragtime, polkas, and a nocturne. In 1981 he performed a
xylophoneThe xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family which probably originated in Slovakia. It consists of wooden bars of various lengths that are struck by plastic, wooden, or rubber mallets. Each bar is tuned to a specific pitch of the musical scale...
solo in a Royal Variety Performance.
Early life
Sir Patrick Moore was born in
PinnerPinner is a suburb in the London Borough of Harrow in Greater London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. The area was in the county of Middlesex until 1965, when it was absorbed by the London Government Act 1963 into Greater London....
in
MiddlesexMiddlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
and moved to
East GrinsteadEast Grinstead is a town and civil parish in the northeastern corner of Mid Sussex, West Sussex in England near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders. It lies south of London, north northeast of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester...
in
SussexSussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, where he spent his childhood. His youth was marked by poor health and as a result he was educated at home by private tutors. He developed an interest in
astronomyAstronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere...
at the age of six, and when eleven was elected to the
British Astronomical AssociationThe British Astronomical Association, BAA, is the senior national association of amateur astronomers in the UK.It was founded in London in 1890. It encourages observational astronomy by non-professionals in areas which cannot be covered by professional observatories...
. In the Second World War Moore lied about his age in order to join the
RAFThe Royal Air Force is the United Kingdom's air force, the oldest independent air force in the world. Formed on 1 April 1918, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history ever since, playing a large part in World War II and in more recent conflicts.The RAF operates almost 1,109...
and from 1940 until 1945 he served as a navigator in
RAF Bomber CommandRAF Bomber Command was the organisation that controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II, the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s was at the peak of its postwar power with the V bombers and a...
, reaching the rank of
Flight LieutenantFlight Lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above Flying Officer and immediately below Squadron Leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "Lieutenant"...
. He first received his flight training in Canada, during which time he met
Albert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was a theoretical physicist. His many contributions to physics include the special and general theories of relativity, the founding of relativistic cosmology, the first post-Newtonian expansion, explaining the perihelion advance of Mercury, prediction of the deflection of...
and Orville Wright while on leave in New York. The war had a significant influence on his life: his only known romance ended when his fiancée, a nurse, was killed by a bomb which struck her ambulance. Moore subsequently remarked, somewhat poignantly, that he never married because "there was no one else for me... second best is no good for me...I would have liked a wife and family, but it was not to be."
After the war, Moore eventually set up home at
SelseySelsey is a seaside town and civil parish, about seven miles south of Chichester, in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. Selsey lies at the southernmost point of the Manhood Peninsula, a small island almost cut off from mainland Sussex by the sea...
in
SussexSussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, where he constructed a home-made
reflecting telescopeA reflecting telescope is an optical telescope which uses a single or combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century as an alternative to the refracting telescope which, at that time, was a design that suffered from...
in his garden and began to observe the
MoonThe Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System. The average centre-to-centre distance from the Earth to the Moon is , about thirty times the diameter of the Earth. The common centre of mass of the system is located at about —a quarter the Earth's...
. He was fascinated by the subject and he is now acknowledged as a specialist in lunar observation, one of his particular areas of expertise being the study of the glimpses of the Moon's far side that are occasionally visible due to the Moon's
librationIn astronomy libration refers to the various orbital conditions which make it possible to see more than 50% of the moon's surface over time, even though the front of the Moon is tidally locked to always face towards Earth...
. He was also an early observer of Transient lunar phenomena: short-lived glowing areas on the lunar surface.
Television
On 26 April 1957, at 10:30 pm, in an event that was to be a landmark of his career, Moore presented the first episode of
The Sky at NightThe Sky at Night is a monthly television programme on astronomy produced by the BBC. The show has had the same permanent presenter, Sir Patrick Moore, from its first airing on 24 April 1957, making it the longest-running programme with the same presenter in television history.The programme's...
, a BBC television programme for astronomy enthusiasts. Since then, he has presented every episode each month, excepting July 2004, because of a near-fatal bout of food poisoning caused by eating a contaminated goose egg. Moore appears in the
Guinness Book of Records as the longest-serving TV presenter, by virtue of having presented the show since 1957. Early editions of
The Sky at Night were transmitted live and on one occasion he swallowed a
flyTrue flies are insects of the order Diptera , possessing a single pair of wings on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax....
live on air. Since 2004, the programme has been presented from Moore's home, as he is no longer able to travel to the studios, owing to
arthritisArthritis is a group of conditions involving damage to the joints of the body....
.
On 1 April 2007, a 50th anniversary semi-spoof edition of the programme was broadcast on BBC1, with Moore depicted as a
Time lordThe Time Lords are a fictional extraterrestrial race and civilization in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, of which the series' main character, the Doctor, is a member...
and featuring, as special guests, amateur astronomers
Jon CulshawJonathan Peter Culshaw is a British impressionist and comedian. He was educated at St Bede's RC High School, Ormskirk, and St John Rigby RC Sixth Form College, Orrell....
(impersonating Moore presenting the very first
The Sky At NightThe Sky at Night is a monthly television programme on astronomy produced by the BBC. The show has had the same permanent presenter, Sir Patrick Moore, from its first airing on 24 April 1957, making it the longest-running programme with the same presenter in television history.The programme's...
) and Dr
Brian MayBrian Harold May, CBE, is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. As a guitarist he uses his home built guitar, "Red Special", and has composed hits such as "Tie Your Mother Down", "We Will Rock You", "Who Wants to Live Forever",...
. This tongue-in-cheek edition of the show included a look-ahead to the state of astronomy in the year 2057, with May recalling his appearance in a disastrous concert on the
MoonThe Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System. The average centre-to-centre distance from the Earth to the Moon is , about thirty times the diameter of the Earth. The common centre of mass of the system is located at about —a quarter the Earth's...
, in which an accident resulted in an explosion of rocket fuel that sent
QueenQueen were an English rock band. Formed in London in 1970 following the demise of the band Smile, Queen consisted of vocalist Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor. The band became popular with audiences via their hit songs, live performances,...
drummer Roger Taylor into
orbitIn physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of one object around a point or another body, for example the gravitational orbit of a planet around a star....
, with accompanying footage of Taylor orbiting the moon, drumsticks still in hand. During the programme, Moore tries in vain to warn his past self to avoid the goose egg that gave him food poisoning in 2004 and expresses annoyance at the late time slot that the show occupies.
On 6 May 2007, a special edition of
The Sky at Night was broadcast on BBC1, to commemorate the programme's 50th anniversary, with a party in Moore's garden at
SelseySelsey is a seaside town and civil parish, about seven miles south of Chichester, in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. Selsey lies at the southernmost point of the Manhood Peninsula, a small island almost cut off from mainland Sussex by the sea...
, attended by amateur and professional astronomers. It consisted of a retrospective of highlights from the past 654 editions of the programme, together with Moore reminiscing with guests who have appeared over the past 50 years and who have been influenced in various ways by the programme and by Moore himself. Another special edition, broadcast on BBC4 on 9 December 2007, was a retrospective of achievements in astronomical science during the past 50 years, together with a review of the highlights of "The Sky at Night" in presenting such achievements and the contributions of distinguished astronomers to the programme during those years.
Patrick Moore has undertaken significant research in astronomy. It was revealed in a TV programme that when the Russians wanted accurate information on the Moon over a number of years, they first went to America then other countries for the information but could not obtain such information. Patrick Moore was then suggested as a source of the data and on visiting him at this dwelling, they were invited in. Moore left them and returned with a pile of exercise books with all the necessary information in, his records of observations over many years which is how in 1959, the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
used his charts of the moon to correlate their first pictures of the far side with his mapped features on the near side and he was involved in the lunar mapping used by the
NASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for...
ApolloNASA's Apollo Program landed the first humans on Earth's moon. US President John F. Kennedy announced his support for a manned moon landing on May 25, 1961, as part of a special address to a joint session of Congress:...
space missions. In 1965, he was appointed Director of the newly-constructed
Armagh PlanetariumArmagh Planetarium is a planetarium located in Armagh, Northern Ireland close to the city centre and neighbouring Armagh Observatory in approximately fourteen acres of landscaped grounds known as the Armagh Astropark.- History :...
in
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, a post he held until 1968. During the Apollo programme, Moore was a presenter of the
BBC's television's coverage of the moon landingBritish television coverage of Apollo 11, man's first mission to land on the moon, lasted from 16 to 24 July 1969 . All the then three UK channels BBC1, BBC2 and ITV provided extensive coverage. Most of the footage covering this historic event from a British perspective though has now been either...
missions. He compiled the Caldwell catalogue of astronomical objects and in 1982
asteroidthumb|260px|right|[[253 Mathilde]], a [[C-type asteroid]] measuring about across. Photograph taken in 1997 by the [[NEAR Shoemaker]] probe.Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets or planetoids, are small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun, especially in the inner Solar System; they are...
2602 Moore2602 Moore is a small main belt asteroid. It was discovered in 1982 by E. Bowell. It is named after Patrick Moore, the TV astronomer....
was named in his honour.
Moore has written over 70 books on astronomy, all of them typed on a Woodstock typewriter of 1908 vintage, which he has always preferred to any more modern device. After the BBC withdrew financial support, he independently produced a 50th anniversary DVD of his life and work entitled 'The Astronomical Patrick Moore'.
Honours and appointments
In 1945, Moore was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Astronomical SocietyThe Royal Astronomical Society is a learned society that began as the Astronomical Society of London in 1820 to support astronomical research . It became the Royal Astronomical Society in 1831 on receiving its Royal Charter from William IV...
. In 1968, he was appointed
OBEThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions...
and promoted to
CBEThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1988. In 2001, he was appointed
Knight BachelorThe rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
"for services to the popularisation of science and to broadcasting".
In the same year, he was appointed an
Honorary Fellow of the Royal SocietyAn Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society is a person elected under special criteria to Fellowship of the Royal Society. They are ineligible in the other criteria for election as a Fellow or Foreign Member but have "rendered signal service to the cause of science, or whose election would...
. In June 2002, he was appointed as Hon. Vice President of the Society for the History of Astronomy. He has also won a
BAFTAThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a British charity that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation...
for services to television.
A keen amateur
chessChess is a board game played between two players. The current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century after evolving from a similar, much older game of Indian origin...
player, Moore often carries a pocket set around with him and has been honoured with the title of Vice President of Sussex Junior Chess Association. In 2003, he presented Sussex Junior
David HowellDavid Wei Liang Howell is an English chess player. He is the youngest chess Grandmaster in the United Kingdom, a title he earned when he came second during the 35th Rilton Cup in Stockholm on 5 January 2007 when he was 16...
with the best young chess player award on Carlton TV's
Britain's Brilliant Prodigies show.
In 1999 Moore became the Honorary President of the
East Sussex Astronomical SocietyThe East Sussex Astronomical Society, ESAS, is a society of amateur astronomers based in the Bexhill, Sussex.It was founded in Bexhill in 1991. The object of the Society is "To advance the education of the public in the science of astronomy in particular people living in East Sussex and the...
a position which he still holds.
Other interests and popular culture
Aside from presenting
The Sky at Night show, Moore has appeared in a number of other television and radio shows, including Just a Minute and from 1992 until 1998, playing the role of
GamesmasterGamesMaster was a British television show, screened on Channel 4 from 7 January 1992 to 3 February 1998, and was the first-ever UK television show dedicated to computer and video games.-Origins:...
in the television show of the same name: a character who professed to know everything there is to know about video gaming. He would issue video game challenges and answer questions on cheats and tips presented in the Consoletation Zone. His appearance differed depending on the show's season (eg. in Season 1, he was an artificial intelligence whereas in Season 5, set in Heaven, he looked like a god).
He also appeared in self-parodying roles, in several episodes of
The GoodiesThe Goodies is a British television comedy series of the 1970s and early 1980s. The series, which combines surreal sketches and situation comedy, was made by BBC 2 from 1970 to 1980 — and was then made by the ITV company LWT from 1981 to 1982....
and on the
Morecambe and WiseEric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, usually referred to as Morecambe and Wise, were a British comic double act, working in variety, radio, film and most successfully in television. Their partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984. They have been described as "the most illustrious, and...
show. He had a minor role in the fourth radio series of
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon...
, and a lead role in the
Radio 1BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the BBC which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock or interviews. It is aimed...
sci-fi BBC/20th Century Fox radio play,
Independence Day UKIndependence Day UK is a one-hour BBC Radio 1 science fiction special, first broadcast on August 4 1996. The show is a spin-off of the movie Independence Day and depicts the movie's alien invasion from a British perspective...
in which amongst other things, Moore fills in as a Navigator in a dogfighting RAF Tornado and a pilot utters the line: "Either I'm concussed or I'm watching Patrick Moore fighting with an Extra-terrestrial, now there's something you don't see everyday". He also appeared in
It's a Celebrity Knockout,
Blankety BlankBlankety Blank is a British comedy game show based on the 1977-1978 Australian game show Blankety Blanks ....
and
Face the MusicFace the Music may refer to:*Face the Music , a BBC television series*Face the Music , a syndicated early 1980s American TV game show*Face the Music , a 1930s Broadway musicalAn album:...
. He has appeared on television at least once in a film prop spacesuit. Despite believing that there may well be life in other parts of the universe, he has stated that he believes that there has not been any real contact with
alienExtraterrestrial life is defined as life which does not originate from planet Earth. The existence of life outside the planet is theoretical and all assertions of such life remain disputed....
s and he dismisses all theories of the extraterrestrial origin of UFOs.
Until being forced to give up owing to
arthritisArthritis is a group of conditions involving damage to the joints of the body....
, Moore was a keen
musicianA musician is a person who performs or writes music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music:* An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument.* A singer uses his or her voice as an instrument....
and accomplished
xylophoneThe xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family which probably originated in Slovakia. It consists of wooden bars of various lengths that are struck by plastic, wooden, or rubber mallets. Each bar is tuned to a specific pitch of the musical scale...
player. He has composed a substantial corpus of works, including two
operettaOperetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Operetta in French:...
s. Sir Patrick has also had a ballet entitled 'Lyra's Dream' written around his music. Devised by Beryl Phelps and choreographed by Richard Slaughter it received it's world premiere in Salisbury, attended by Sir Patrick, on the occasion of his 80th birthday. He occasionally performed novelty turns at the
Royal Variety PerformanceFor a general description of performances for the monarch, see Royal Command Performance.The Royal Variety Performance is a gala evening held annually in the United Kingdom, which is attended by senior members of the British Royal Family, usually the reigning monarch. In more recent years Queen...
and appeared in a song-and-dance act in the 1971
Morecambe and WiseEric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, usually referred to as Morecambe and Wise, were a British comic double act, working in variety, radio, film and most successfully in television. Their partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984. They have been described as "the most illustrious, and...
Christmas special. In 1998, as a guest on
Have I Got News For YouHave I Got News for You is a British television panel show produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been running since 1990...
, he accompanied the show's closing theme tune on the xylophone and as a pianist, he once accompanied
Albert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was a theoretical physicist. His many contributions to physics include the special and general theories of relativity, the founding of relativistic cosmology, the first post-Newtonian expansion, explaining the perihelion advance of Mercury, prediction of the deflection of...
playing The Swan by
Camille Saint-SaënsCharles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French composer, organist, conductor, and pianist, known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse Macabre, Samson and Delilah, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo capriccioso, and his Symphony No...
on the violin (of which no recording was made). Moore is listed by the
Internet Movie DatabaseThe Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, video games, and most recently, fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media...
as the uncredited musical consultant on the 1968
Stanley KubrickStanley Kubrick was an American director, writer, producer, and photographer of films, who lived in England during most of the last 40 years of his career...
/Arthur C Clarke
2001: A Space Odyssey2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 science fiction film directed by Stanley Kubrick and written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke...
. Patrick Moore was also the subject of a popular internet cartoon entitled "
Patrick Moore Plays the Xylophone", which appears on Weebl's Stuff.
He is a friend of
QueenQueen were an English rock band. Formed in London in 1970 following the demise of the band Smile, Queen consisted of vocalist Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor. The band became popular with audiences via their hit songs, live performances,...
guitarist and astrophysicist Dr
Brian MayBrian Harold May, CBE, is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. As a guitarist he uses his home built guitar, "Red Special", and has composed hits such as "Tie Your Mother Down", "We Will Rock You", "Who Wants to Live Forever",...
, who himself is a sometime guest on
The Sky At NightThe Sky at Night is a monthly television programme on astronomy produced by the BBC. The show has had the same permanent presenter, Sir Patrick Moore, from its first airing on 24 April 1957, making it the longest-running programme with the same presenter in television history.The programme's...
. The pair have co-authored a book with
Chris LintottChristopher John Lintott is an English astrophysicist. He is a post-doctoral researcher who is involved in a number of popular science projects aimed at bringing astronomical science to a wider audience...
, entitled
Bang! The Complete History of the Universe.
His books are mostly
non-fictionNonfiction is an account or representation of a subject which is presented as fact. This presentation may be accurate or not; that is, it can give either a true or a false account of the subject in question. However, it is generally assumed that the authors of such accounts believe them to be...
dealing with astronomy, along with several
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature...
novelA novel is a long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s. His first novels were a series about the first arrivals on
MarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after Mars, the Roman god of war. It is also referred to as the "Red Planet" because of its reddish appearance, due to iron oxide prevalent on its surface....
, including
Mission to MarsMission to Mars is a science fiction novel by Patrick Moore.The action is set initially on Earth and then on Mars.Maurice Green, a young recently-orphaned Englishman, arrives at the Woomera Rocket base in Australia to meet his only known relative, Leslie Yorke. He learns that Dr...
and
The Voices of MarsThe Voices of Mars is a science fiction novel by Patrick Moore.Some years after the events described in Mission to Mars, Maurice and his friend Bruce Talbot are now permanent members of the research colony established on Mars...
, followed in 1977 by the start of the
Scott Saunders Space AdventureThe Scott Saunders Space Adventure series are a series of young-adult science-fiction novels written by amateur astronomer Patrick Moore.As its title indicates the series depicts the adventures and trials of young astronaut Scott Saunders...
series, aimed primarily at a younger audience, which eventually ran to six novels. In 1983 he published
Bureaucrats: How to Annoy Them under the
pseudonymA pseudonym is a fictitious name used by a person, or sometimes, a group.Pseudonyms are often used to hide an individual's real identity, as with writers' pen names, graffiti artists, resistance fighters' or terrorists' noms de guerre and computer hackers' handles. Actors, musicians, and other...
R. T. Fishall. In 1986 he was identified as the co-author of a book published in 1954 called Flying Saucer from Mars, attributed to
Cedric AllinghamCedric Allingham was a British contactee of the 1950s, whose claims to have encountered the pilot of a Martian spacecraft were published in 1954 as Flying Saucer from Mars....
, which was intended as a practical joke on UFO believers. Moore has never admitted his involvement.
In January 1998, part of Moore's
observatoryAn observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial and/or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed...
at his home in Selsey was destroyed by a
tornadoA tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air which is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud...
which passed through the area. The observatory was subsequently rebuilt.
Along with many other celebrities, Patrick Moore has been the subject of crank-calls by
comedianA comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain members of an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
Jon CulshawJonathan Peter Culshaw is a British impressionist and comedian. He was educated at St Bede's RC High School, Ormskirk, and St John Rigby RC Sixth Form College, Orrell....
, as part of the
BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a domestic UK radio station that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967.-Outline:...
show
Dead RingersDead Ringers is a UK radio and television comedy impressions broadcasted on BBC Radio 4 and later BBC Two. The programme was devised by producer Bill Dare and developed with Jon Holmes, Andy Hurst and Simon Blackwell. It starred Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Phil Cornwell, Kevin Connelly and Mark Perry....
. On this occasion, Jon Culshaw impersonated
Tom BakerThomas Stewart "Tom" Baker is an English actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981, and for being the narrator of the comedy series Little Britain...
's role of the
Fourth DoctorThe Fourth Doctor is the name given to the fourth incarnation of the fictional character known as the Doctor in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Tom Baker for seven consecutive years and is, , the longest-living incarnation in the show's...
(
Doctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a mysterious alien time-traveller known as "the Doctor" who travels in his space and time-ship, the TARDIS, which normally appears from the exterior to be a blue 1950s police box...
), supposedly consulting Moore on various astronomy-related matters. Moore, being aware of what was going on, confused Culshaw by out-playing him in his use of
technobabbleTechnobabble is a form of prose using jargon, buzzwords and highly esoteric language to give an impression of plausibility through mystification, misdirection, and obfuscation...
, resulting in a rare pause from the comedian as he tried to think of a response.
Activism
Moore is noted for his
conservativeConservatism is the diverse political and social philosophy that supports tradition and the status quo, or that calls for a return to the values and society of an earlier age, the status quo ante. However, the term has been used by politicians and political commentators with a variety of meanings...
political views. In the 1970s, he was Chairman of the anti-immigration
United Country PartyThe United Country Party was a minor political party in the United Kingdom during the late 1970s. The Party was against immigration, inflation and the excesses of the 'Winter of Discontent', claiming to represent 'people with common sense'....
, a position he held until the party was absorbed by the
New Britain PartyNew Britain was a "small right wing group formed by Dennis Delderfield in 1976". The United Kingdom Electoral Commission confirmed the New Britain Party was de-registered as a political party in November 2008....
in 1980. He then joined the
Conservative PartyThe Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservatives, the Conservative Party, or Tory Party is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom...
and later the
United Kingdom Independence PartyThe United Kingdom Independence Party is a conservative, Eurosceptic political party. Its principal aim is the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. UKIP currently holds thirteen seats in the European Parliament and two in the House of Lords...
, becoming a long standing supporter and patron of the
euroscepticEuroscepticism is a general term used to describe opposition and criticism of the European Union , and the process of European integration...
party. Moore introduced the DVD 'Britain on the Brink', a documentary which, he asserted, exposed the 'truth' that had been hidden from British people about being a member state in the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
. He opposed the
Iraq WarThe Iraq War, also known as the Occupation of Iraq or Operation Iraqi Freedom, is an ongoing military campaign which began on March 20, 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a multinational force led by troops from the United States and the United Kingdom.Prior to the war, the governments of the United...
, stating:
Mr. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
’s venture into Iraq could have instead paid for the entire space programmeThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for...
for quite a few years... I think Bush is certifiable. He’s a danger. If we are not careful he’ll plunge the world into a Third World War. He’s power-drunk you see. If he goes for IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
or North KoreaNorth Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , is a state in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer area between North Korea and South Korea...
, big trouble! What’s the difference between Robert MugabeRobert Gabriel Karigamombe Mugabe is the current President of Zimbabwe.He has held power as the head of government since 1980, as Prime Minister from 1980 to 1987, and as the first executive head of state since 1987...
and Saddam HusseinSaddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the President of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
? Mugabe doesn’t produce oil!
He is an opponent of
fox huntingFox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.Fox hunting originated in the United...
. He has been a lifelong animal lover, actively supporting many animal welfare charities (recognisably, the Cats Protection League). He has a particular affinity for cats and has two of them.
Personal life
Because of his long-running television career and eccentric demeanour, Moore is widely recognised and has become a popular public figure, even to people with no interest in astronomy. In 1976, this was used to good effect for an April Fool's spoof on
BBC Radio 2BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the UK. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
, when Moore announced that at 9.47 am, a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to occur:
PlutoPluto, formal designation 134340 Pluto, is the second-largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-largest body observed directly orbiting the Sun...
would pass behind Jupiter, temporarily causing a
gravitational alignmentThe Jovian-Plutonian gravitational effect, a hoax phenomenon stated to cause a noticeable short-term reduction in gravity on Earth, was an invention for April Fools' Day by the English astronomer Patrick Moore broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on 1 April 1976....
which would reduce the Earth's own gravity. Moore informed listeners that if they could jump at the exact moment that this event occurred, they would experience a temporary floating sensation. The BBC received many telephone calls from listeners alleging that they actually experienced the sensation.
Moore joined the
Flat Earth SocietyThe Flat Earth Society was an organization that sought to further the belief that the Earth is flat rather than a sphere. The modern organization was founded by Englishman Samuel Shelton in 1956, and later led by Charles K...
as an ironic joke, though some have taken this seriously.
On 7 March 2006, he was hospitalized and fitted with a
pacemakerA pacemaker is a medical device which uses electrical impulses, delivered by electrodes contacting the heart muscles, to regulate the beating of the heart...
because of a cardiac abnormality.
In May 2007, Moore appeared on the BBC2 programme
Room 101Room 101 is a place introduced in the novel 1984 by George Orwell. It is a torture chamber in the Ministry of Love in which the Party attempts to subject a prisoner to his or her own worst nightmare, fear or phobia....
. During the show, he provocatively asserted that the BBC was being "ruined by women", commenting that:
"The trouble is that the BBC now is run by women and it shows: soap operas, cooking, quizzeskitchen-sink plays. You wouldn’t have had that in the golden days.”
In response, a BBC spokeswoman described Moore as being one of TV's best-loved figures and remarked that his "forthright" views were "what we all love about him".
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