In honour of a Great Man

In 1957, Sir Patrick Moore aired the first edition of the Sky at Night programme on the BBC.

In the intervening years, so much has happened in terms of our knowledge and understanding of the universe in which we reside. Throughout all of that, Sir Patrick has been an ever present observer.

Today, the world of astronomy and science lost a fine man who contributed so much and started so many people along their pathway to discovering even more about the stars and planets. Of course, I feel an great sense of honour in the fact that I was able to speak with him in May of this year and a huge amount of sadness at his passing.

So tonight, in his honour, I spent 3 hours in the cold night air, observing and checking things off the list of Moore's Winter Marathon, with the determination that in the next few weeks, I am going to find them all.

RIP Sir Patrick Moore - astronomer, writer, broadcaster, cat lover, inspiration to generations. Your star will always shine brightly.

The star in the image is Capella, in the constellation of Auriga.