For Patrick.

 

It’s been a bad year for astronomy and space fans. It doesn’t seem that long ago I was blogging about Neil Armstrong and now I’m back to talk about Patrick Moore.

I guess it’s one of life’s great truisms that you don’t know what’s there till it’s gone. I grew up listening to this big wise owl of a man talking passionately and eccentrically about all things spacey. In my late teens I had bought a telescope. I devoured Sky at Night episodes and bought the magazine every month to see what planets were where and how to find galaxies or what meteor showers to look out for. I was also a big fan of Patrick’s articles, which at the same time were intriguing and informative but more importantly they were accessible.

Most of all he had a fantastic talent for inspiring people (probably every British astronomer for the past 50 years) and talking about space in a way that almost made it magical.

I just wanted to say thanks, in the only way I could.

 

Right I’m off to have a wee bubble.

Neil

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Tags: astronomy, Illustration, Patrick Moore, science