The 800th Sky at Night

The Sky at Night was inspired by Patrick Moore’s love of the night sky. As the show celebrates its 800th episode, Ezzy Pearson takes a look at other astronomers who’ve followed his example

Four amateurs who have followed the show’s passion for astronomy

On 24 April 1957, The Sky at Night aired its first ever episode. The show’s presenter, the late Sir Patrick Moore, had waged a one man letter-writing campaign with the BBC for months to produce an astronomy show introducing the wonders of the night sky. Faced with Moore’s unwavering zeal for astronomy, the BBC gave him his show. Since then, The Sky at Night has gone on to become one of the longest-running television shows in the world and is now celebrating its 800th episode. Here, we take a look at some equally enthusiastic astronomers around the UK, whose own love of space has led them to work on their own passion projects encouraging people to look up at the night sky.

Dr Ezzy Pearson is BBC Sky at Night Magazine’s news editor. She gained her PhD in extragalactic astronomy at Cardiff University