TV astronomer Sir Patrick Moore, best known for the long-running show The Sky At Night, has died at his home in West Sussex, aged 89. Friends and colleagues of the broadcaster said that he passed away at 12.25pm on Sunday afternoon following a short illness - with his health deteriorating significantly in recent days. "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," his friends and staff said in a statement. "Over the past few years, Patrick, an inspiration to generations of astronomers, fought his way back from many serious spells of illness and continued to work and write at a great rate. "But this time his body was too weak to overcome the infection which set in, a few weeks ago." The statement added that he had managed to continue work on The Sky At Night - which ran for over 50 years - "up until the most recent episode" - and that plans were still underway to mark what would have been his 90th birthday in March. "His executors and close friends plan to fulfil his wishes for a quiet ceremony of interment," they said, "but a farewell event is planned for what would have been Patrick's 90th birthday in March 2013." Patrick Moore was born in Pinner, Middlesex, in 1923 and first became interested in astronomy during childhood after his mother gave him a copy of the GF Chambers book The Story Of The Solar System. He served in the RAF during World War II, although his passion for astronomy grew in the 1950s after he built a telescope in his back garden to watch the moon and planets - and as a result he was chosen to present a new astronomy programme launched by the BBC in 1957. Originally called Starmap, it was scheduled to run only for three months - but lasted for over four decades - with Moore later explaining the secret of its success was the fact that it was "cheap and non-controversial". Moore only ever missed one edition of the show in 2004, when he was taken ill with food poisoning. He was also the author of more than 70 books, as well as being part of the BBC commentary team for the moon landings in 1969 - and as well as being an astronomy expert, was an accomplished musician who often showed off his xylophone skills on TV. Moore never married, following the tragic death of his fiancee Lorna during World War II when an ambulance she was driving was struck by a bomb. "There was no-one else for me. Second best is no good for me," he said. "I would have liked to have had a wife and family; but it was not to be."
