BRITISH ASTRONOMER AND broadcaster Sir Patrick Moore has passed away at the age of 89.

The former president of the British Astronomical Association and co-founder and former president of the Society of Popular Astronomy, Moore was the author of more than 70 books on astronomy and the presenter of the BBC’s The Sky at Night since 1957.

Moore, who was born in Middlesex in England, won place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest serving television presenter on a single programme.

Moore was appointed OBE in 1968, promoted to CBE in 1988, and knighted in 2001 for “services to the popularisation of science and broadcasting”.

A group of his friends and family issued a statement today, confirming that he had “passed away peacefully” at 12.25pm this afternoon at his home, Sky News reports.

“After a short spell in hospital last week, it was determined that no further treatment would benefit him, and it was his wish to spend his last days in his own home, Farthings, where he today passed on, in the company of close friends and carers and his cat Ptolemy,” the statement added.

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