How are you all doing
out there? Remember when we used to just shrug
off these prophecies of doom? Case in point, having survived the
predicted apocalypse that was to occur when the clock struck midnight
marking the start of the new Millennium, twenty one days later I was
outside waiting for another sure sign of doom. January 21st 2000 I
was waiting for the Moon to pass directly behind the Earth and into
its shadow causing the moon to turn a reddish colour- namely a total
eclipse of the moon!
Eclipses were still 'in' at this time as Britain
had 'attempted' to witness its first solar eclipse for 72 years six
month prior (with only part of mainland Britain witnessing totality
due to having their views obscured by clouds) and so this
astronomical phenomena also received some media interest. Many saw
the image of the moon turning blood red to be the real sign of end
being 'nigh' but this again wasn't the case, and much like the solar
eclipse the clouds rolled in just as things were about to
'officially' happen. But never the less I was there, outside the studio between 3:14am – 4:15am huddled up, Panasonic NV-R33VHS
camcorder in hand (hence the shaky cam) as I sketched the moon/
documenting the event. Unfortunately the mic picked up the radio (on
in the background to help me document the time) and at one point
YouTube flagged the music and so I had to silence one section of it
but it offers a moment of time, that might be of interest to someone
out there.
Or at the very least offer something to while away the hours in our
quarantined bunkers.
Clearing out some things in the studio I found a London
Planetarium visitor guide from 1996, sadly not from actually visiting there but
from a charity shop... I had always wanted to but the opportunity never
presented itself to me, so I had to make do with the visitor guide. I read
through it a fair few times and found it to be a great source of reference for
my work but there was one photograph in particular that intrigued me, located at
the bottom of the pages 2 and 3 was a photo of Sir Patrick Moore with a waxwork
likeness of himself, which he had unveiled at Madame Tussauds back in April 1992
to be displayed at the Planetarium. I’m not even sure why this particular image
stayed with me but for ten years I vowed to make visiting the London
Planetarium a priority but alas it was not to be and by 2006 it was too late,
when the London Evening Standard announced Madame Tussauds‘s plan to stop
showing astronomical presentations as it had done continually since 1958.
Instead replacing it with a show devoted to the world of celebrity! Schools and
astronomical organisations (myself included) despaired when Diane
Moon of the Planetarium said that the newly named‘London
Auditorium’ would be transformed into a show that would "get into the heart of celebrity”.
It
seemed that despite the Planetarium’s upgraded to a full-colour
Digistar 3 system back in 2004 it had failed to attract the public’s interest. Patrick
himself concerned
that London was now the only major city in the world without a Planetarium spoke out
about the announcement to the BBC saying it was, “most regrettable" while Madame Tussauds attempted
to smooth things over by permitting free entry to the Planetarium during its
penultimate week offering one last hurrah before it would be replaced by a show
about celebrities made by Aardman Animations. Although I missed out on
experiencing the ’Laserium’, the Digistar II or III I did
however get to see that wax figure in 2006, not in London but 89 miles
away in Chichester, West Sussex. The South Downs Planetarium and Science Centre in Chichester,is an educational facility run
by both volunteers and astronomy enthusiasts and it was opened to the public on
the 30th July 2001. Patrick had been a keen advocate of the project, serving as
one of its patrons while working at having a star theater constructed and
installed.It contains a Viewlex-Minolta
S-IIb star projector (dating from 1977) that had been retired by the Armagh
Planetarium (where Patrick was served as director). The projector had not been
used for some years but Dr John Mason (a former president of the British
Astronomical Association) was able to put it back into working order and it’s
well worth a visit! Professor Brian May once described this
building as, “one of the best possible living monuments to Patrick’s lifelong
commitment to Astronomy” and I very much agree with this statement as it
inspires the next generation of Astronomers each year just as Patrick did for
over half a century and I very much urge you to visit. As you
walk in, there to greet you is Patrick’s wax figure! So, I might have been
robbed of my chance to visit the London Planetarium, but I got to see a star
show and Patrick’s wax figure courtesy of the South Downs Planetarium.
With the wax figure at the South Downs Planetarium, 2006.
Although published a year before the creation of this site, it was mentioned briefly in a 2009 post devoted to published works. Sir Patrick originally wrote Ancient Lights when he was in his 20's but never got round to publishing it and it remained that way until Jeremy Rundel of STAR Distribution discovered the manuscript and took it on himself to publish it. I illustrated the cover working alongside Patrick who had a clear idea as to what he wanted. I would fax sketches to him at Farthings and he would call me back and let me know what changes he wanted. Patrick didn’t like the skull featuring on the cover and so requested a femur stick out of the ground instead! Here are those rough drafts and final artwork.
This adventure yarn set in a bygone era was then published by STAR-Distribution in a limited edition of only 500 each one serially numbered and only available through them. The book was officially launched at the Autographica 12 event at the Radisson Edwardian hotel in London in October 2008 with Patrick and myself in attendance.
It was a simple enough premise, a mini feature devoted to obscure board games that feature a ‘tv boffin’. The first one which I wrote covering David Bellamy’s ‘Save The World!’ was written back in 2012 and to say that I had fallen behind on this feature would be an understatement. So without any further ado I present for you 'Patrick Moore’s Astronomy Game’! Produced by Selsey, based (much like Patrick Moore himself) Whim Games Limited in 1980, part of Quantum Games’s line (also available ‘The Solar System Game’ and ‘First Galaxy G1’). I’ve had this game for some years now remember the time I told Patrick that I had it, his response “where on Earth did you find that?!” The game encourages players to explore the solar system and outer space, visiting celestial objects and obtain information and points. Included in the box are Astronomical Notes provided by Patrick himself and the rules that tell us that the object of the game is to, “Explore the Solar System and outer space, to visit celestial objects and obtain information and points. The game starts and finishes at the Earth, and the winner is the one who gains the most points, not necessarily the first one back home.”
The game can be played by up to six players and requires the players to move along the track, through the solar system and into outer space and back to Earth, visiting as many celestial bodies as possible.
The game consists of a die, six coloured playing token rockets, game board, Fuel units, Point cards and Hazard cards. A Mission Controller is elected and is placed in charge of the allocation of fuel units and point cards during the game. Then each player is issued with a playing token and 10 Fuel Units, the die is thrown by each player and the one with the highest score starts the game. Players must then follow the black arrows on the outward journey and red arrows on the return journey. After completing one Earth orbit the player selects which path to take, either straight to Mars and the outer planets or inwards for Venus and Mercury! Whichever mission you embark on you need to collect point cards as you go. There are Planet Photography cards or Sample cards (that are only obtainable when the player lands on the exact planetary orbiting spot marked by a blue ring) a player may overshoot and will require several throws of the dice until eventually landing on the desired spot. The Fuel cards may also be used to achieve this goal (or help avoid an astronomical hazard in your path) but only if you move backwards. A Fuel unit card is surrendered at a rate of one unit per square and if a player runs out of fuel units they must miss a turn for each unit required. There are Hazard squares and if a player lands on one of them they are required to pick a Hazard card and carry out the instructions, such as “Spacecraft Communications fault Loose 2 Fuel Points” or “Go back to nearest planet for repairs”
Player are given the opportunity to dock if they land on an occupied square provided that they “both agree” not on a hazard square and moving in the same direction. By doing this both players receive equal amounts of points and can remain like this provided they don’t land on an undocking square or draw an undocking card in the hazard deck then they will have to separate.
To transfer from the Solar System to outer space players must throw the exact number to reach the exit square (fuel units are not permitted!) and then throw an odd number to get to an entry square! Once you arrive here you then have three paths to choose from with the agenda of reaching the furthest point of the track before returning to the Solar System collecting Star cards as they go along. Avoid Black Holes these will send you to the Solar System transfer square and forcing you to re-cross the outer space track once again! Having thrown the exact number required to return to the Solar System you need to make you way back to Earth and achieve the exact number to finish, if not the player will have to keep orbiting the Earth until they do so! The first player to land on Earth is awarded 100 points, the second 50. Scores are then tallied, the player with the most points is the winner!
The game is rather quaint, the trick is to try to use fuel cards sparingly, and of all the times we have played it we have never docked as we usually have our own missions in mind! But its certainly a fun little endearing game that represents Patrick’s everlasting mission to inspire future generations of astronomers and astronauts. If I had to compare it to a better known board game it would be Monopoly, but imagine Monopoly encouraging you to learn about the property you land on, take photographs and take samples instead of buying it. They come up on eBay from time to time, so check it out.
Next Time’s Boffin Board Game Bonanza David Attenborough’s Zoo Quest.
On June 8th, we spent a weekend in Selsey and attend the unveiling of a permanent 3D-art exhibition at Selsey Cricket club one of oldest cricket clubs in the country (celebrating its 180th anniversary this year). The piece, created by Arts Dream’s Meryl Penning commemorates the life of one of the club’s former Secretary, President and Life vice President Sir Patrick Moore. Apart from being a world-renowned astronomer, author and television personality Sir Patrick was an intrepid Cricketer and Meryl created this wonderful recreation of his study at “Farthings” (where many of the club’s committees were held over the years) in a corner of the Pavilion (now renamed the Sir Patrick Moore Pavilion) in his honour. The piece, complete with thatched roof and leaded windows contains photographs, memorabilia, and artwork from Patrick’s study and the attention to detail is amazing. Everyone that looked in through the glass would say, “oh look there is his….” Filling in the gap with something that they recalled seeing when they visited Farthings. Each time we looked in we would noticed another familiar item, from his famous Woodstock typewriter to the tankards hanging from the beams. The shot glasses that lined the walls, his cuckoo clock and his mother’s paintings. Also amongst the memorabilia on the walls is one of my paintings, ‘Moon Base Farthings’ which I painted for Patrick back in 2011. A gift, thanking him for allowing Beth and myself to spend what was to be our last weekend at Farthings, and for the use of his garden as a backdrop for my proposal to Beth. Last time I spoke with Patrick he told me that the painting had “Pride of place” in his study so I was delighted to find that it now lives on at the cricket club in this magnificent display. (The artwork also featured on the back of the commemorative booklet made available on the day raising proceeds toward a new clubhouse for the club)
Following on from the unveiling we had a glorious day of brass band and sunshine before Selsey played against the Lashings All Stars competing for the Sir Patrick Moore Cup. We had a marvellous time and commend all involved.
Meryl's fantastic work can still be viewed at the club on the following dates: 10-4pm on Thursday /Friday through June and July.10-4pm every weekday through August.
I urge you to visit and see this magnificent piece for yourselves, and be sure to pick up a commemorative booklet too!
Well it’s official I am now a married man, Beth and I were married on the 15th of June.
I normally refrain from posting ‘personal’ blog entries, instead focusing on my creative/ artistic pursuits or influences (and lets face it the last thing the Internet needs is another blog about weddings!). But saying that creativity and customisation was called upon on numerous occasions in the planing and execution of what was to be one of the single most important collaborations of my life. A venture, which much like my work was made up of elements and influences from the past in preparation for the day this artist, married his muse.So, I thought I would start by recounting how it all started, the engagement. True, this subject was covered in my “2011 end of year full circle recap” but it seems that some of you hadn’t been paying attention…
The Engagement, Friday the 18th of November 2011 Beth’s birthday, we were all set for a return trip to Selsey to visit Sir Patrick Moore for super. Last time we had been to visit Patrick was to celebrate his 88th birthday in March so we were both looking forward to going back to West Sussex to see him again. Having finished loading up the car the first stage of my plan was initiated a Birthday dedication courtesy of BBC Radio 2’s Ken Bruce who kindly granted me the opportunity to declare my love of her via his show!
Having safely arrived at Patrick’s home we had a lovely home cooked meal before going out into the garden to use Patrick’s famous 15" Reflector to view Jupiter. The garden was busy that evening as the Adur Astronomical Society were holding their monthly meeting with John Fletcher of Mount Tuffley Observatory. As everyone piled into the observatory to observed deep sky objects I seized the opportunity and walked Beth over to the 12" Newtonian telescope (used by Patrick for his historical lunar mapping work). Ironically a street light proved to be most useful for this amateur astronomer as it allowed me to be see and be seen as I knelt down on one knee! Beth who had no idea what I was up to looked on in bewilderment as I produced my specially made ring box complete with hand crank when wound played Elvis Presley’s ‘Love Me Tender’… Knowing that Beth would instantly recognise the tune I let the music box ask on my behalf and to my delight (not to mention relief!) she said yes! A kiss and a reassurance that I was serious later, we went back to the house to let Patrick know the outcome of our plan! A champagne cork pop later we shared our news with all in attendance receiving many kind well wishes from the Adur AS and John Fletcher whom logged the event in the telescope logbook!
As a playful nod to the recent royal engagement we had our own ‘official engagement photos’ taken the following morning before making our way home to announce the news to family and friends and make the necessary arrangements.
Once the date had been set and venue confirmed we turned our attention to the little details first things, first the invitations. Beth and I are fans of Jack Vettriano’s ‘Singing Butler’ and for some time I had wanted to create something based on the image of a couple dancing on a beach, with grey skies on the horizon which was once described by the artist as an “uplifting fantasy". It seemed perfect for our wedding invitations, customised to reflect our own tastes of Pterosaurs, tea and Belgian buns painted as closely as I could to Vettriano’s style the invitations were posted out informing potential guests of our ‘big day’ on June 15th.
As the weeks passed by and the R.S.V.P’s started to come in we prepared for the wedding. I wasn’t surprised to find that weddings require a bit of organising but what surprised me was how much of these preparations are completely unnecessary. We looked through a few wedding magazines and attended a wedding fair for ideas and were amazed at how overcomplicated and unnecessary most of it was. We learned that wedding planing is a lucrative, cut-throat industry of table tops and seat covers and amongst all this madness we managed to find a few wedding “must-haves” or in this case “must-makes”.
One of the rare ideas that we thought would be rather nice to have was a wedding post box. Placed on a table at the reception that post box securely relieved guests of any envelopes they might have for the Bride and Groom. I opted to make one that addressed our love of classic design and nature that would ‘thank’ anyone that posted a card for us, so I created a Singing Sparrow post-box! Simply post the card or greeting through the slot and the Sparrow is activated and sings proving a little fun for the reception.
The Wedding, the big day finally arrived and thankfully all our plans, ideas and arrangements came together. Everything had been set in place as we convened at the Bangor Town Hall at 11am.
The Town Hall otherwise known as Bishop’s Palace is a Grade II-listed building dating from the 16th century and the oldest surviving building in Bangor , after the Cathedral. Beth walked down the isle to the Jurassic Park theme, we made our vows exchanged rings and left the building as Mr & Mrs Jones. The Town Hall stands in the shadow of Bangor Cathedral, 10 years ago I stood in its grounds dressed in a cap and gown having received a University of Wales degree and since that time I have had a fondness for this place. Attending its services at Christmas and Easter with Beth and my daughter this building has been a place of worship since the 6th century and houses wonderful examples of art and architecture. Separating the Cathedral from the registry office is the “Bible Garden”. The Bible Garden has examples of every plant, mentioned in the Bible planted in it, wanting to bring a traditional aspect to our day this tranquil place served as the perfect location for a wedding blessing performed by our good friend the Reverend Lionel Fanthorpe.With the Cathedral serving as a backdrop, surrounded by family and
friends the sun shone down on us as Lionel delivered a blessing, as he
did so a gentle breeze lifted and the trees showered us with flower
petals nature's very own confetti. Professional photographer Arfon Edwardsused the location to the fullest capturing the whole day for us. Photos taken we made our way to our reception at the Eryl Mor Hotel which overlooks Bangor Pier, the Menai Strait and just in the distance Puffin Island another beautiful location that Beth and I had sailed around the week before. With such a fabulous view, good food, surrounded by family and friends and my wife by my side I was immensely happy and a shame that we had to have to leave, but the adventure had only just begun, we needed to set off on our honeymoon!
The Honeymoon, 30 years ago my grandparents (frequent visitors to Scotland) presented me with a plastic Nessie. Already fascinated by dinosaurs this made an impression on me, as it seemed to imply that some dinosaurs had actually survived the ice age. This fascination was spurred on by Peter Maddocks’s ‘Family- Ness’ cartoon and any books I could find on the subject and ‘The Unexplained’ magazine. Watching Michael Aspel’s ‘Strange But True?’ repeats of ‘Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World’ and of course Reverend Lionel Fanthorpe’s ‘Fortean TV’. Yet despite my lifelong fascination with this location and its supposed inhabitant I had never been there, unlike Beth whom had been to Scotland several times in the past, I hadn’t even crossed the Scottish border! So for our honeymoon there could be only one location to visit… Loch Ness during Nessie’s 80th anniversary year! Having arrived at Scotland we immersed ourselves in the tourism aspect of Loch Ness (haggis for breakfast, Tartan carpets etc) and visited the Drumnadrochit Hotel, which is now the Loch Ness Exhibition Centre. This fantastic museum was designed and narrated by Loch Ness Project leader, Loch Ness documentary regular, monster hunter, naturalist, (not to mention a hero of mine) Adrian Shine.
Having taken a tour of the history of Loch Ness I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Mr. Shine and had a “wee blather” with him. Fascinated by the legend of the Loch Ness Monster in the 1960’s he started investigating Loch Ness in 1973 hoping to photograph the famous monster with no success. Later constructing an underwater observation chamber yet despite several dives and risk to his-own life made no findings. In 1981, he and a volunteer crew began a 24-hour sonar exploration of the Loch, followed by the famous "Operation Deepscan" in 1987 followed by the world’s media, obtaining the first complete mapping of the Loch. After debunking the famous "surgeon's photo" in
1994 he has since published over a dozen scientific papers on his researches on the loch and the unusual surface wave patterns and it was a delight meeting him.We then made our way to Urquhart Bay Harbour for our very own Loch Ness Expedition. Boarding the appropriately named ‘Nessie Hunter’ skippered by George Edwards the longest serving passenger boat skipper on Loch Ness. Equiped with Radar, Colour Sonar, G.P.S. and underwater cameras Mr Edwards provided an informative commentary about the Loch Ness phenomenon as we sailed past the historic ruins of Urquhart Castle (which we also visited later during the day). We sat on top taking in the grandeur that is Loch Ness, taking photos as we went along before making our way back to shore for lunch (stopping off at Nessie Land for a barrage of souvenirs!). Loch Ness delivered everything we had hoped for we had an amazing time I think the great Tim Dinsdale summed it best in his book, ‘Project Water Horse –The true story of the monster quest at Loch Ness’ “I had never been there before, and yet I knew it. The dark and mysteriously beautiful scene was entirely foreign to me, and yet I recognised it” We reluctantly loaded the car to return back home to North Wales. I will add this, I mentioned that my grandparents were frequent visitors to Scotland, my grandfather more so, as he used to drive holiday coaches. When I learned of his trip to Loch Ness in the early 1990’s I asked him to bring me back a water sample from the Loch (he instead opted to bring me a souvenir pen which was gratefully received!) As we were leaving we pulled up by the water side for one last goodbye and a photo of the misty Loch, I collected a small sample of water as a little salute to my younger self, forever fascinated with this Loch and its mysteries.
To break the monotony of a long trip back to North Wales we decided to stop off and spend the night at the Schooner Hotel located on the coastal village of Alnmouth in Northumberland. This listed 17th Century Coaching Inn is reportedly the most haunted hotel in Britain. Countless paranormal investigations have been performed here over the years suggesting at least 60 individual spirits.
Being an inn with a long history associated with smugglers, murders, suicides and the massacre of a family, tales of strange goings on are inevitable and reports have become more frequent in more recent years totalling over 3,000. All the rooms at the hotel are reportedly haunted with room 28 being the most, this is the room where the massacres of a family was said to have occurred. Over the years guests have reported hearing children crying, women screaming and an unseen presence and feeling of unease that have even been felt by staff who claimed that they saw a dark figure darting out of room 20! Figures have been seen standing at the end of the beds in room 16 and 17 while the presence of a young boy has been detected outside in the corridor believed to be responsible for the accounts of door knockings. Along with reports of a soldier in an another corridor, feelings of dread
and sound of whispering in rooms 28,29,30 and the presence of a maid on the stairs this is not a place for those of a nervous disposition but ideal for a spot of ghost hunting! Having checked in I had a wander around on several occasions, taking pictures as I went along through corridors, which seem to spiral off in each direction like a carpeted badger set. I must confess to feeling a sense of unrest. But aside from the clanking of coat hangers when a bus went by in the morning and some inconsiderate door slamming guests in the other room there was nothing to report, apart from that feeling of unrest that we both felt which was curious.
So there you have it, the wedding of Arfon and Beth Jones. Hope that was of interest to someone… Our sincerest thanks to all that played a part in it and thank you to everyone for all the lovely cards and well wishes.
There has been a lot of interest in comets lately with Comet C/2012 predicted to be a naked eye object in November, some are already calling it 'The Comet of the Century'! I shall remain cautious and not get my hopes up too high*, but it is nice to see the public discussing the arrival of the comet. It also provides me with the perfect excuse to share my latest customised accessory with you!
Being an amateur astronomer naturally I am an avid viewer of ‘The Sky at Night’ and a regular subscriber to its magazine. One of the features that I always look forward to are the magazine’s cover disks that feature classic episodes of the show. I noted that during the early part of the 1980’s Sir Patrick stopped wearing his trademark RAF tie and instead wore a blue tie with '1986' embroidered on it, the '9' replaced by a comet with a blazing tail. In astronomical terms 'nineteen eighty-six' was a big year as it marked the return of Halley's Comet to our skies. One of our better-known comets, visible to the naked eye (from Earth) every 75–76 years. However the tie wasn’t just a reminder of the Comet’s return, interestingly (or at least I thought so) it actually belonged to the now seemingly forgotten Halley's Comet Society of London.
Founded in August 1975 by Halley's Comet enthusiast Brian Harpur, this group of enthusiasts held meetings in honour of Halley’s Comet and in his book ‘The Official Halley’s Comet Book’ Harpur explained the society and the ties, “The former attracted a wide variety of founder members at my own personal invitation on the intriguing basis of having no rules, no committees, and no annual subscriptions. The only obligations were the purchase of a tie (for the men) bearing our special ‘1986’ logo, which I designed with the ‘9’ shaped like a comet, and to pronounce Halley as ‘Hawley.”
All proceeds made from the sale of the ties (and medallions for the ladies) were donated to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme and it was reported that membership ties rocketed from one in 1975 to over 500 by 1983- all by word of mouth. Sir Patrick, in his book ‘TV Astronomer: Thirty Years of The Sky at Night’ Sir Patrick also recounted the Society and it’s tie, “I myself a founder member of the Halley’s Comet Society, which had been master-minded by Brain Harpur in the mid1970’s. We have our own special tie, with a 1986 motif, and we are, we feel, unique inasmuch as the Society has no aims, objectives or ambitions, and does nothing except meet periodically on licensed premises. (One such gathering was held in the Long Room at Lord’s; I think I was about the only regular cricketer present.) It has even been said that the Society is the only completely useless organisation in the world, apart, of course, from the United Nations.”
Issue#63 of the Sky at Night Magazine featured episode#392 on its cover disk, (originally aired December 1986) at this point the comet had passed and Sir Patrick reflected on what he called “the year of the comet”. He then pointed out that his tie no longer bares the 1986 insignia, but instead a ‘2061’ variation acknowledging the year of the comet’s return. This tie had been introduced at the very last society meeting in November as stated in ‘TV Astronomer: Thirty Years of The Sky at Night’, “We have now altered this to a 2061 design, to mark the next return of the comet. Our meeting on 13 November 1986, following an impressive ceremony in which a Halley plaque was unveiled in Westminster Abbey, Eamom Andrews turned up wearing the first of the new ties- a classic piece of one-upmanship.”
Halley's Comet Society ties worn by Sir Patrick Moore. '1986' October 1982 and '2061' December 1986
It seems that the society faded away shortly after because at the time of writing this I found very little information about it. In fact were it not for a very interesting site by former President of Halley's Comet Society, U.S.A (not to mention original society tie owner) Mr. Joseph M. Laufer there would be no information at all about it online. But having learnt so much about the society I wanted a tie for myself! And thanks to the creative talents of my good friends Barry McCabe of GOODJOLT and seamstress extraordinaire Iris Hung I now have one of my own! Bearing the 2061 motif it both reminds people to look out for the comet and salutes the fascinating society once devoted to it. I was 7 at the time of Halley’s Comet 1986 visit and like many others in the United Kingdom I didn’t get to see it. I should be 82 when it returns but I’m not placing any bets on ever seeing it in my lifetime as Sir Patrick closed his chapter about the comet, “I am not likely to see it myself, unless I live to be the unusual age of a hundred and thirty-eight. But no doubt there will be full Sky at Night coverage, and perhaps my successor of that period will even be able to carry out a live broadcast while standing on the velvet-black nucleus. Time will tell. Just in case you hope for a better view in 2061, I must point out that conditions will, if possible, be even worse than they were in 1986. Look out for the comet by all means, but don’t say that you haven’t been warned. “
Dedicated to Sir Patrick Moore and Brian Harpur.
The Official Halley’s Comet Book aside, other officialHalley’s Comet Society products!
My sincerest thanks to Barry McCabe andIris Hung for all their help, why not visit Joseph M. Laufer’s site and learn more about this fascinating society?
* I was right to be cautious C/2012 S1 also known as Comet ISON speculated to be the "Comet of the Century" was disintegrated by the heat of the sun on the 28th of November 2013.
This is a very difficult post to write as I lost an inspiration and friend today, Sir Patrick Moore, CBE, FRS, FRAS passed away peacefully at his home in Selsey at the age of 89. This blog post will undoubtedly be lost amongst millions of other tributes being left for him as his influence carried across the entire globe. Tributes left by eminent Astronomers and scientists, men who have walked the moon and observed it in their back gardens will be mourning his loss. Sir Patrick had been on our screens since 1957 so he was a reoccurring, enduring figure on our screens as I grew up. During the 80’s and 90’s it seemed that he was either telling me about the Universe on ‘The Sky at Night’ or telling me how to cheat at video games with ‘Games Master’. Between these shows I would read his books trying to make sense of the night sky. When I was at college and working through the night on a project I would often catch ‘The Sky at Night’ and treat it as a well-earned break I would then go outside to take a look and marvel at it all. In my 20’s I finally wrote to him and received a reply the following day. Several other letters were exchanged before being invited down to his home in Sussex, this visit became one of many there after. All the times I saw him he never let me down a true down to earth gentleman that lived up to my expectations and I feel truly honoured to have met him and call him a friend. Always supportive of my work I was fortunate to be able to work with him once, illustrating one of his books and our last endeavour was arranging my surprise marriage proposal to Beth in his garden last year. Looking up at the night sky has become all the more poignant now as I think of his legacy. Thank you Patrick for your inspiration, guidance, wit, generosity and friendship, I will miss you. EDIT: 12/03/2018 I found this clip on my phone of Patrick speaking at the Autographica 12 event at the Radisson Edwardian Hotel, London on the 25th of October 2008
Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore
Was born in 1923 developed an interest in astronomy at the age of six elected to the British Astronomical association at eleven. Having served as a navigator in the RAF during the Second World War he was elected a fellow of the Royal Astronomical society in 1945. He constructed a homemade relocating telescope in his garden and began observations of the moon. Establishing himself as a specialist in lunar observation. In 1959, the Russians used his charts to correlate the first lunik 3 pictures of the far side of the moon, his lunar maps were used in the NASSA Apollo missions. Despite writing 70 books on astronomy he is known to many as the presenter of the monthly BBC series ‘The Sky At Night’ which he presented all but one since 1957 earning him a place in the ‘Guinness book of Records’ as the longest serving television presenter. The series has been attributed as a major factor in the encouragement of amateurs perusing the subject of astronomy and in 2001, Moore was appointed knight bachelor “For services to the popularisation of science and broadcasting”. In the same year, he was appointed an honorary fellow of the royal society.
