REPORT - My Visit To Sir Patrik Moore.

[Wedge]

Sorry it is soooo late

I forgot that I mentioned it here on SGL.

Anyway: Here is a brief report: I wrote this for the School Newspaper.

When most people think of astronomy, they usually think of Sir Patrick Moore. As a keen astronomer myself, I certainly have been greatly inspired by this one man as have many others across the world.

In November 2007, I had the honour of travelling to his house in Selsey and spending the afternoon with him. It all came about after I wrote him a letter congratulating him on his 50th year of presenting The Sky At Night on TV. Sir Patrick promptly replied and included his phone number, suggesting that I ring him for a chat. I did so. After a lengthy conversation, he invited me to his house, so that I could meet him in person and have a look at his telescopes.

On the 4th November, me and my Dad travelled down to Selsey to his house which was a large thatched roof cottage within an ordinary street. We were greeted into his house by one of his helpers who directed us into his study, where Sir Patrick Moore himself was sitting behind a large desk. He was quite a gentleman. We shook hands, and he offered us a seat and a drink.

What I really remember clearly about us talking together was that he genuinely seemed to enjoy talking to me about the stars, planets and other matters outside of astronomy. Even though he had met hundreds if famous people such as Albert Einstein and Neil Armstrong, he did not treat me at all like an inferior, but spoke to me in an extremely polite and respectful manner.

After we had had a chat, Sir Patrick asked a man called Chris, (who was also visiting at the time, and is the son of a famous ‘space artist’) to take me outside to have a look at his telescopes. Sir Patrick was unable to do so himself due to the fact that he is now not very mobile.

We were shown Sir Patrick’s gigantic 15 inch telescope, which was made of wood and had been shown on many of his TV programmes. It was an extremely impressive instrument and it was certainly a great honour to look at and use.

After we had gone back inside it was time to say goodbye. Me and my Dad had bought Sir Patrick a mug from the Greenwich Royal Observatory with images of a Greek drawing of the skies. I presented him our gift and he seemed genuinely pleased to have it, exclaiming ‘that will be used and looked after very well!’

I shook his hand to say goodbye and Sir Patrick gave me a hug – something I am sure not many people my age can say to have had! In all, I am very honoured to have met Sir Patrick and extremely impressed how much of a gentleman he is. I am very happy to have had this opportunity and it is certainly one I will remember, every time I go outside to look at the cosmos.

I hope you like it!?

And just a few of the Many pictures I took:

(click to enlarge)

With the Great man Himself! ^^^THIS ONE^^^

(click to enlarge)

Next to his Telescope. The Other man is Chris Doherty.

Say Hi to SPM from me when you go to renovate his Observatory!

Remy :salute:

EDIT - Could anybody possibly find me any examples of Paul Doherty's Work?

I believe that he painted the famous picture of Saturn from Titan?

[Naz]

Good report there Remy, hopefully it might encourage others at your school to have a look at astronomy as a hobby / career. I am sure you will remember the meeting for a very long time.

naz

[CELESCOPE]

Hi Remy . lovely report , and glad you enjoyed your day with Patrick , and yes of course i will along with others on here will remember you to Patrick . its only a few weeks away now before we wave a magic wand ,then to see his Dome looking lovely again ,

Cheers

Best wishes

Rog

[Beyond_Vision]

Sounds like you had a most memorable day. It's a joy to read such an intelligently written report by a young person.

Regards

Kevin

[centroid]

Hi Remy

It certainly sounds like you had a wonderful day, the memory of which you will carry always, I'm sure.

Thank you for sharing it with us.

Dave

[MikeP]

Hi Remy,

I'm sure Patrick enjoyed meeting you as much as you enjoyed meeting him. All of us on here are keen to encourage young people to take an interest in astronomy and Patrick is no different.

As you say, he can longer get out to observe, but he can still inspire and long may he continue to do so.

A lovely report, well done.

Mike

[James]

Hi Remy,

I think Chris Doherty is the son of Paul Doherty who produced some stunning drawings of the planets. Many years ago for Christmas I got given a book by him, the name of which escapes me*. I always wanted to be able to get the same kind of views that he must have got but haven't managed yet despite using a similar sized scope!

Glad you enjoyed your trip to see SPM.

James

**Ah, just found it. It was 'Atlas of the Planets' by Paul Doherty published in 1980.

[Black Shuck]

Excellent report Remy, I really enjoyed reading it.

Thanks

Bill

[Sam]

Great report Remy! It must have been great meeting Sir Patrick and I guess it's one of those things you'll always remember. I have just finish reading his autobiography and he's certainly a great and fascinating man.

[Wedge]

Thanks for all the kind remarks guys! (I am very intelligent BeyondVision )

SPM was also kind enough to give me and sign for me two books:

The Databook of Astronomy, and the Photographic Atlas of the Stars.

The reason I contacted him in the first place, was after reading his Autobiography, which I got free with my S@N subscription.

Great read that, especially the Political Correctness sections :shock:

[StarMan1701]

**Ah, just found it. It was 'Atlas of the Planets' by Paul Doherty published in 1980.

This was one of the first astronomy books I borrowed from my local library, back in the mid 1980's. A good read, with some absolutely superb drawings of the planets, (Paul Doherty was one of the best in the business).

The book has been out of print for many years, but I managed to get a copy from the states about five years ago and it's a keeper.

Lee.

[thing]

Great report Remy. Never met the man but he seems to be a very gracious gentleman. You'll never forget meeting him that's for sure. Amazing to think that I started watching S@N in the 60's and he doesn't look any different to me now than he did then.

[russ]

Great read Remy, really enjoyed it. I met Sir Patrick at Portsmouth Guildhall when i was 16 and got myself completely tongue tied :? After years of wanting to meet him I couldn't get a single word out My friend did all the talking while Sir PM probably wondered who the mute was standing next to him. This was back in 1986. I doubt i would be any different today (hence why i didn't volunteer for the refurb project despite only living 30mins from Sir PM).

Great read that, especially the Political Correctness sections Shocked

hehe Sir PM is not known for his PC views, which in my book makes him all the better

Russ

[jgs001]

Nice report Remy, I enjoyed reading that too.

[Talitha]

What a wonderful report Remy, thanks for sharing it with us!

[Wedge]

Thanks for all the kind words guys