An Australian astronomer who appeared on the BBC’s Stargazing Stay alongside Professor Brian Cox, has died aged 62.
Greg Quicke from Broome, 2,000km (1,240 miles) north of Perth, was also referred to as “Area Gandalf” for his distinctive white beard.
Within the 2017 Stargazing Stay Australia collection he performed the sensible astronomer to Professor Cox’s theoretical particle physicist.
The collection featured a report from Mr Quicke on why the night time sky seems to be completely different in Australia in comparison with the UK.
His media profession additionally included a 10-part collection on the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) known as A Stargazers Information to the Cosmos and books together with Is The Moon Upside Down? and Earth Turning Consciousness.
Mr Quicke was additionally a famend tour information, operating “astro excursions” in his residence city.
He estimated that throughout 28 years there had been round 100,000 members “together with a BBC producer… who plucked me from the bush and onto the world stage”.
A number of individuals who have attended his excursions have been paying tribute on social media, together with Chris Ross of Sydney, who described it as “a cherished reminiscence”.
Western Australian journalist Sam Tomlin wrote on X, previously Twitter, that Quicke was “one of many nice scientific communicators of the trendy period and a Broome icon”.
Mr Quicke had been identified with most cancers in 2023.
A publish on his web site, revealed earlier than his dying, says: “Resulting from some cosmic, bodily and different worldly challenges our 2024 stargazing season is unavailable, closed, shut, not occurring and never occurring.”
The self-taught astronomer usually informed of his love of serving to individuals get a higher understanding of the night time sky.
Chatting with the ABC in 2017, he mentioned: “You concentrate on astronomy and infrequently it is offered as stuff that is on the market.
“However my tackle it’s that we’re on a planet. We’re shifting by way of area.
“These are issues I can take out of your head and I can put them at your toes.”
