After the war, Moore rejected a grant to study at the
University of Cambridge, citing a wish to "stand on my own two feet". in Kent from 1945 to 1953. His second book was a translation of a work of French astronomer
Gérard de Vaucouleurs (Moore spoke fluent French). After his second original science book,
Guide to the Planets, he wrote his first work of fiction,
The Master of the Moon, the first of numerous
young adult fiction space adventure books (including the late 1970s series the
Scott Saunders Space Adventure); he wrote a more adult novel and a
farce titled
Ancient Lights, though he did not wish either to be published. Moore also translated the book
Quanta by J Lochak and Andrade E Silva, published in 1969, from the French. While teaching at Holmewood, he set up a 12½ inch
reflector telescope at his home, which he kept into his old age. His first television appearance was in a debate about the existence of
flying saucers following a spate of reported
sightings 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. Moore presented every monthly episode except one in July 2004, when he suffered a near-fatal bout of food poisoning caused by eating a contaminated goose egg. For that episode, he was replaced by
Chris Lintott. Moore appears in the
Guinness World Records book as the world's longest-serving TV presenter having presented the programme since 1957. From 2004 to 2012, the programme was broadcast from Moore's home when
arthritis prevented him from travelling to the studios. Over the years, he received many lucrative offers to take his programme onto other networks but rejected them because he held a '
gentlemen's agreement' with the BBC. In 1959, the Russians allowed Moore to be the first Westerner to see the photographic results of the
Luna 3 probe and to show them live on air. Less successful was the transmission of the
Luna 4 probe, which ran into technical difficulties and around this time, Moore famously swallowed a large fly; both episodes were live, and Moore had to continue regardless. Moore wrote that he visited the
Soviet Union, where he met
Yuri Gagarin, the first man to journey into
outer space. For the fiftieth episode of
The Sky at Night, in September 1961, Moore's attempt to be the first to broadcast a live direct telescopic view of a planet resulted in another unintended 'comedy episode', as cloud obscured the sky. In 1965, he was appointed director of the newly constructed
Armagh Planetarium in Northern Ireland, a post he held until 1968. His stay outside England was short partly because of the beginning of
The Troubles, a dispute Moore wanted no involvement in. He was appointed
Armagh County secretary of the
Scout movement but resigned after being informed that Catholics could not be admitted. In developing the Planetarium, Moore travelled to Japan to secure a
Goto Mars projector. He helped with the redevelopment of the
Birr Telescope in the Republic of Ireland. In his autobiography, Moore writes that he was a key figure in the development of the
Herschel Museum of Astronomy in
Bath. In June 1968, he returned to England, settling in Selsey after resigning from his post in Armagh. During the NASA Apollo programme, presenting on the
Apollo 8 mission, he declared that "this is one of the great moments of human history", only to have his broadcast interrupted by the children's programme
Jackanory. He was a presenter for the
Apollo 9 and
Apollo 10 missions, and a commenter, with
Cliff Michelmore and
James Burke, for
BBC television's coverage of the Moon landing missions. A homemade recording reveals that the studio team was very quiet during the landing sequence, leaving the NASA commentary clear of interruptions. Some 14 seconds after "contact", Burke says "They've touched." At 36 seconds, he says, "Eagle has landed." Between 53 and 62 seconds, he explains the upcoming stay/no-stay decision, and NASA announces the T1 stay at 90 seconds after contact. At 100 seconds, the recorded sequence ends. Thus, any real-time comment Moore made was not broadcast live, and the recording ends before Burke polls the studio team for comment and reaction. Moore participated in TV coverage of
Apollo missions 12 to
17. He was elected a member of the
International Astronomical Union in 1966; having twice edited the Union's General Assembly newsletters. He attempted to establish an International Union of Amateur Astronomers, which failed due to lack of interest. During the 1970s and 80s, he reported on the
Voyager and
Pioneer programs, often from
NASA headquarters. At this time he became increasingly annoyed by
conspiracy theorists and reporters who asked him questions such as "Why waste money on space research when there is so much to be done here?". He said that when asked these types of questions "I know that I'm dealing with an idiot." Another question that annoyed him was "what is the difference between
astronomy and
astrology?" Despite this he made a point of responding to all letters delivered to his house, and sent a variety of standard replies to letters asking basic questions, as well as those from conspiracy theorists, 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 109
star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies for observation by amateur astronomers. 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. However, 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 campaigned unsuccessfully against the closure of the
Royal Observatory, Greenwich in 1998. Among Moore's favourite episodes of
The Sky at Night were those that dealt with
eclipses, and he said, "there is nothing in nature to match the glory of a
total eclipse of the Sun." and
Brian May, astrophysicist and
Queen guitarist, at
AstroFest in 2007 Moore was a BBC presenter for the
total eclipse in England in 1999, though the view he and his team had from
Cornwall was obscured by cloud. Moore was the patron of the
South Downs Planetarium and Science Centre, and he attended its official opening in 2001. On 1 April 2007, a 50th anniversary semi-spoof edition of the programme was broadcast on
BBC One, with Moore depicted as a
Time Lord. It featured special guests, amateur astronomers
Jon Culshaw (impersonating Moore presenting the first
The Sky at Night) and
Brian May. On 6 May 2007, a special edition of
The Sky at Night was broadcast on BBC One to commemorate the programme's 50th anniversary, with a party in Moore's garden at Selsey, attended by amateur and professional astronomers. Moore celebrated the record-breaking 700th episode of
The Sky at Night at his home in Sussex on 6 March 2011. He presented with the help of special guests
Professor Brian Cox, Jon Culshaw and
Lord Rees, the
Astronomer Royal. It was reported in January 2012 that because of arthritis and the effects of an old spinal injury, he was no longer able to operate a telescope. However, he was still able to present
The Sky at Night from his home. ==Activism and political beliefs==