WATCH unique video of Queen legend Sir Brian May talking about his involvement with Chichester planetarium - and how you can help

The South Downs Planetarium and Science Centre in Chichester was one of only eight venues across Europe invited to participate in the Hubble Space Telescope’s 35th anniversary celebration.

During the celebration, a video was played in which Sir Brian revealed the Sir Patrick Moore Heritage Trust was making a donation of £25,000 which he was matching with a further £25,000 and he urged people to also consider contributing.

The planetarium was opened by the Astronomer Royal Lord (Martin) Rees, President of the Royal Society, in 2001, and its Founding Patron was the late Sir Patrick Moore the eminent astronomer, author and broadcaster.

Today, with permission, we are pleased to present Sir Brian’s video on Sussex World in support of the planetarium.

In the video, Sir Brian – who is an astrophysicist – said: “I was lucky enough to spend a lot of time with Sir Patrick Moore and enjoyed great friendship with him. He became a type of surrogate uncle for me, encouraging me to return to astronomy after many years. And for Patrick the most important things in life were cats - his beautiful black cat Tommy - and kids who were inspired very often by Patrick himself to look ahead in their lives to being astronomers themselves.

“And that includes me.

“Right now there is an enormous upswing in the interest of young people in the astrophysical experiments that are going on. We are exploring our own solar system at a fantastic rate.

“But the whole emphasis is on exploration. And education. And trying to discover where we came from - answering such questions as how the Earth was formed? How was intelligence formed? And where did we all come from? I've been involved in some of this amazing research.

“Now planetaria are more relevant than ever. And it needs money to keep up the standard because technology is changing so fast and you cannot keep up with it without a massive investment of money.

“I happen to be one of the trustees of the Patrick Moore foundation and we feel it is the right moment to invest £25,000 of the Trust's money in this beautiful place. Why? Because here is where kids will learn astronomy. They get inspired by these NASA and ESA missions but they say ‘what do I do, where do I learn about astronomy?’ I remember saying the same thing myself. There's not a lot of emphasis put on it in schools. It is at best a small part of the curriculum.

" What do they do? They come here [to the South Downs Planetarium and Science Centre in Chichester]. They sit under the beautiful, virtual sky and this is one of the most beautiful and precious in the world, lovingly maintained by the staff here. The astronomers of the future come here and learn first hand about how the solar system works, how galaxies work, how the whole universe works. That's why this is important. That's why £25,000 is being invested in updating this fantastic place.

"I was very moved by this and because of my friendship with Patrick and because I share those beliefs about planetaria and especially the South Downs Planetarium I would like to match the donation which essentially has come from Patrick. So I am going to add my £25k to the £25k from the foundation and I urge you to think about contributing yourselves because this is investing in the future of your children, your grandchildren and enriching the lives of future generations of astronomers, astrophysics students, astronauts even.

"It's a wonderful cause and I cannot think of a better place to invest. Think about contributing in any way you like ... whether it's money, or activity or help to Dr John Mason and the wonderful team here.”

Dr Mason confirmed that Sir Brian was happy for Sussex World to show the video on our website. He said: “Sir Brian has taken a keen interest in the Planetarium since his good friend and mentor Sir Patrick Moore died in December 2012, because he was very aware of Patrick’s keen and vocal support for the Planetarium project since the idea of building one in Chichester was first mooted back in 1992.

"Sir Brian, like Patrick before him, shares our vision that it is of increasing importance not only to encourage young people to take up an interest in science and engineering and to have an awareness of key environmental issues but also for people of all ages to have a much better understanding of our planet Earth, the wider Universe and our place within it.

"Sir Brian has taken a keen interest in developments at the Planetarium and has visited us on a number of occasions, when his heavy work commitments permit. We are so very grateful for his involvement and continued support.”

If you want to contribute to the South Downs Planetarium with with money or time you can contact them at [email protected]

https://www.southdowns.org.uk/index.html