THE HAT SQUAD: SIR PATRICK MOORE

From BBC News:

British astronomer and broadcaster Sir Patrick Moore has died, aged 89.

He "passed away peacefully at 12:25 this afternoon" at his home in Selsey, West Sussex, friends and colleagues said in a statement.

Sir Patrick presented the BBC programme 'The Sky At Night' for over 50 years, making him the longest-running host of the same television show ever.

He wrote dozens of books on astronomy and his research was used by the US and the Russians in their space programmes.

Described by one of his close friends as "fearlessly eccentric", Sir Patrick was notable for his habit of wearing a monocle on screen and his idiosyncratic style.

Sir Patrick presented the first edition of 'The Sky at Night' on 24 April 1957. He last appeared in an episode broadcast on Monday.

Sir Patrick believed he was the only person in the world to have met Orville Wright, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, and Neil Armstrong the first man on the Moon.

Sir Patrick appeared in the 'Doctor Who' episode "The Eleventh Hour", which introduced Matt Smith as the Eleventh incarnation of the Doctor. (And his televersion displayed a randy side.)

Here he is on the laptop, bottom row in the middle:

Good night and may God bless.......