It Came From Outer Space Wearing an RAF Blazer!, 2013
A Fan's Biography of Sir Patrick Moore

To British television viewers, the name ?Patrick Moore? has been synonymous with Astronomy and Space Travel since he first appeared on The Sky at Night in 1957. To amateur astronomers he has been a source of inspiration, joy, humour and even an eccentric role model since that time. Most people know that his 55 years of presenting The Sky at Night is a world record, but what was he really like in person?  What did he do away from the TV cameras, in his observatory, and within the British Astronomical Association, the organisation that inspired him as a youngster? Also, precisely what did he do during the War Years, a subject that has always been shrouded in mystery? Martin Mobberley, a friend of Patrick Moore?s for 30 years, and a former President of the British Astronomical Association, has spent ten years exhaustively researching Patrick?s real life away from the TV cameras. His childhood, RAF service, tireless voluntary work for astronomy and charity and his endless book writing are all examined in detail. His astronomical observations are also examined in unprecedented detail, along with the battles he fought along the way and his hatred of bureaucracy and political correctness. No fan of Sir Patrick Moore can possibly live without this work on their bookshelf!

Chapter 1: The Pre-War Years.- Chapter 2: The War Years.- Chapter 3: The Post War Years.- Chapter 4: The First Books and O’Neill’s Bridge.- Chapter 5:Desmond Leslie, Cedric Allingham and Science Fiction.- Chapter 6: The BBC.- Chapter 7: Encounters with Russians and George Alcock.- Chapter 8: some Classic 1960s Broadcasts.- Chapter 9: Back to the Lunar Section.- Chapter 10: The Move to Armagh.- Chapter 11: Meteorites, Pills, Saturn and the Leonids.- Chapter 12: St. Osyth, Two British Novae, Serpents Everywhere, and an OBE.- Chapter 13: Selsey and the Race to the Moon.- Chapter 14: Apollo 11.- Chapter 15: A Bestselling Author, Nutters and More Moon Landings.- Chapter 16: Mainly BAA and TLP.- Chapter 17: Back in Charge of the Lunar Section.- Chapter 18: A Telescope, a Comet and the Monte Umbe.- Chapter 19: Kohoutek Flops and This is Your Life.- Chapter 20: Not Enough Hours in the Day.- Chapter 21: A Naked Eye Nova and a Director Resigns.- Chapter 22: An End to Lunar Section Chores.- Chapter 23: Twenty Years on TV and a Fall in the Bath!- Chapter 24: Back in the TLP Driving Seat.- Chapter 25: Nursing Mother.- Chapter 26: A British Comet Marks the End of an Era.- Chapter 27: Musings on Planet 10; Life after Mother.- Chapter 28: Halley recovered as Patrick becomes President.- Chapter 29: Fifty Years in the BAA and Halley.- Chapter 30: Supernova 1987A, Politics and a New Magazine.- Chapter 31: Business as Usual at the BBC and the BAA.- Chapter 32: A 100^th Birthday and Madness in Buenos Aires.- Chapter 33: A Nasty Accident and Shoemaker-Levy 9.- Chapter 34: The Caldwell Catalogue, Neptune and More Foreign Trips.- Chapter 35: Death of a Friend, Selsey’s Tornado and Serious Health Problems.- Chapter 36: The 1999 Total Solar Eclipse and Ailing Health.- Chapter 37: A Knighthood, a BAFTA and a Fellow of the Royal Society.- Chapter 38: A Biography, a Co-presenter, a Venus Transit and a Deadly Goose Egg.- Chapter 39: A New Magazine, a Pacemaker and BANG!- Chapter 40: 50 Years of The Sky At Night.- Chapter 41: Still Alive Despite All the Odds!- Chapter 42: Life, the Universe and Everything.- Epilogue: Patrick’s Legacy.- Appendix 1: Patrick’s Variable Stars.- Appendix 2: Patrick’s Voluntary BAA Roles.- Appendix 3: Total Solar Eclipse Trips Experienced by Patrick.- Appendix 4: Patrick’s 300+ Books and Other Media Offerings.

Martin Mobberley holds a BSc in Electronic Engineering from Brunel University and worked as an electronics/software engineer for Marconi for 22 years. He is the author of eight practical astronomy books for Springer, as well as three small children’s space books with Top That! Publishing. He has authored over 300 articles for Astronomy Now, The Journal of the British Astronomical Association, BBC Sky at Night and various other publications. He is the author of the Comet, Eclipse and Minor Planet sections of Macmillan’s ‘Patrick Moore Yearbook of Astronomy’ and the former president of the British Astronomical Association (BAA). Martin was the BAA Goodacre Medal winner of 2000 and appeared as a guest on Patrick Moore’s Sky at Night TV program a total of ten times. He was a personal friend of Sir Patrick Moore for 30 years.