Patrick Moore, astronomer, xylophonist and GamesMaster, has passed away at the age of 89. His flagship program "The Sky At Night" was shown for 57 consecutive years without Moore missing a single show between 1957 and 2004.

One of my favourite highlights of Moore's career occurred in 1976.

"During an interview on BBC Radio 2, on the morning of 1 April 1976, the British astronomer Patrick Moore announced that at 9:47 AM a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to occur that listeners could experience in their very own homes. The planet Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, temporarily causing a gravitational alignment that would counteract and lessen the Earth's own gravity. Moore told his listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment this planetary alignment occurred, they would experience a strange floating sensation. When 9:47 AM arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds of phone calls from listeners claiming to have felt the sensation."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jovian%E2%80%93Plutonian_gravitational_effect

Rest in peace Patrick.

So sad, another person I have followed from my youth passes on.

Patrick Moore is a name I always associate with Mars bars. 

"To Patrick Moore and David Bowie,
And all the other stars,
There's evidence here to show me
That there's life on Mars!"

-- The Undertones,
"Mars Bars"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgpM0Zk-WQg