North Wales Astronomy Society members' invite to Patrick Moore Sky at Night party

May 16 2012 By David Moutlon

RECENTLY I and friend Brian Woosnam were lucky enough to receive an invite down to Selsey for a surprise party for Sir Patrick Moore.

The Party was arranged to commemorate the achievement of 55 years of the Sky At Night programme.  The longest running TV show with the same presenter.

The Sky At Night had its first showing in April 1957 and contributors to the programme past and present, together with some of Sir Patrick’s oldest friends were there for the Party.

Sir Patrick himself arrived at the venue fully expecting a quiet evening meal after a gruelling six hours of filming for this month’s TV show; he was more than surprised to see so many friends there to congratulate him on this epic achievement.

The Sky at Night episode this month includes The Moore Marathon screened through this week and features observing reports and pictures taken of 55 of Sir Patrick’s favourite objects in the spring sky.

The weather this April though has proved as much of a challenge as the 55 objects themselves. However despite this, observation reports were filed and submitted by many, together with pictures of these objects and uploaded to the Sky at Night Flickr page here.

Some of the observing reports and images were featured on the programme.

Anyone interested can submit images to the Sky at Night flickr site. This is a great way to get involved. The Sky at Night team are always keen to show amateur images on the programme and have opened the doors for everyone