Sky At Night 50th Party & TV Show

Astronomy Ireland was privileged to be invited to the BBC's party to celebrate and record the 50th anniversary programme of The Sky At Night last week, and we have set up a webpage to celebrate the event.

Seven of us went to Sir Patrick Moore's home in Selsey (South of England) for the event and spent 2 days there at a party we will never forget.

In the crowd were astronauts, celebrities, and famous amateur and professional astronomers - see the photos online.

It was an enormous honour for the society to be invited and we presented Patrick with a specially designed card and a gift of his favourite tipple for which he acquired a taste during his stay in Ireland as Armagh Planetarium Director in the 1960s.

Sir Patrick is an Honorary Life Member of Astronomy Ireland and he has given several public lectures the society in the past, as well as writing the occasional article.

He has been a great friend to the society and we heartily congratulate him on 50 years on TV and wish him continued success in the future.

A full report will appear in our magazine (www.astronomy.ie/sub), but a webpage to whet your appetite has been set up at:

www.astronomy.ie (it's the second item, after the Star-B-Q notice)

You can see the 50th anniversary programme on BBC 1 TV on Sunday at 11:10pm May 6 (repeats are listed on the webpage).

Don't miss it and watch out for familiar faces!