Patrick Moore in the 1950s; Moore argued against Lord Dowding and other UFO proponents. He was invited to present a live astronomy programme and said the greatest difficulty was finding an appropriate theme tune; the opening of Jean Sibelius's "Pelléas et Mélisande" was chosen and used throughout the programme's existence. The programme was originally named "Star Map" before "The Sky at Night" was chosen in the "Radio Times". On 24 April 1957, at 10:30 pm, Moore presented the first episode about the Comet Arend–Roland. The programme was pitched to casual viewers up to professional astronomers, in a format which remained consistent from
Patrick Moore proponents of hunting and 'cranks'. Despite his fame, his telephone number was always listed in the telephone directory and he was happy to show members of the public his observatory. He compiled the Caldwell catalogue of astronomical objects and in 1982, asteroid 2602 Moore was named in his honour. In February 1986 he presented a special episode of "The Sky at Night" on the approach of Halley's Comet, though he later said the BBC's better-funded "Horizon" team "made a complete hash of the programme." In January 1998, a tornado destroyed part of Moore's garden observatory; it was subsequently rebuilt. Moore