Queen guitarist Brian May said the monocled stargazer was the "father of astronomy" in great britan.
Nobel Lottery winner Sir Paul Nurse said he was one of many great science communicators of our lives.
Sir Patrick, aged 89, "died peacefully " at his zero in Selsey, West Sussex, colleagues and friends said in a very statement.
He presented the BBC programme The sun During the night time for over half a century, making them the longest-running host of the show on tv.
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Many of us learned astronomy from Patrick Moore, we discovered that rather thirst and joy for knowledge that they had and distributed to everybody, the entire of Britain owes its astronomy to Patrick”
Brian May
He wrote a large number of books on astronomy and his awesome research was adopted because of the US along with the Russians within their space programmes.
Sir Paul Nurse said her own decision becoming a scientist was influenced by Sir Patrick. He described how since a child he attended considered one of his astronomy talks.
"I literally sat at his feet, playing every word, there were most of them," he told BBC News. "It absolutely was an awesome experience to me."
He also spoke of the touching moment when Sir Patrick was elected an honorary fellow in the Royal Society - with tears streaming down his face the astronomer said he was completely overwhelmed that this most well-known science academy on this planet would recognise him, "just a beginner".
Astronomer Royal Sir Martin Rees asserted despite becoming an amateur scientist, Sir Patrick would be a total professional as part of his work.
"He did his homework; he absorbed new ideas quickly. With a TV audience, he would be a 'character' - indeed in the last times of science broadcasting the demeanour of an mad professor seemed a prerequisite for media success.
"In his case, this picture overlay an eternity commitment, a workaholic pursuit to explain, and an enthusiasm to advertise his subject in whatever ways he could."
'Father surrogate'
Queen guitarist Brian May, who published the sunday paper on astronomy written with Sir Patrick, described him being a "dear friend and also a rather father surrogate to my opinion". He was quoted saying Britain had lost a priceless treasure that can not replaced.
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Through his regular monthly programmes he was telling us excellent customer service and that which was on the market understanding that would be a real inspiration”
Maggie Aderin-Pocock Space scientist
Sky in the evening colleague's tribute
Sky During the night profile of Sir Patrick
Tributes paid to Sir Patrick Moore
"Most of us learned astronomy from Patrick Moore, we found that style of thirst and joy for knowledge that she had and distributed to everybody, the full of Britain owes its astronomy to Patrick.
"He lived and breathed his subject, and hubby shared it with everyone, he absolutely lived to share with you his knowledge, his wealth with his fantastic time. Probably the most generous man I've ever met We would say."
Tagged by certainly one of his good friends as "fearlessly eccentric", Sir Patrick was notable for his practice of wearing a monocle on-screen with his fantastic idiosyncratic style.
He presented the initial edition on the Sky during the night on 24 April 1957. He last appeared in a episode broadcast last Monday.
An announcement issued on Sunday by his friends and staff said: "After having a short spell in hospital yesterday, it turned out determined that no further treatment would benefit him, plus it was his need to spend his last days in their home, Farthings, where he today passed on, with buddies and carers and his awesome cat Ptolemy.
"In the last number of years, Patrick, an inspiration to generations of astronomers, fought his sources that are from many serious spells of illness and continued to operate and write with a great rate, but these times his body was too weak to beat the problem which occur a little while ago.
'Quiet ceremony'
"He could perform on his world record-holding TV programme The sun during the night time till the modern episode.
"His executors and pals decide to fulfil his wishes to get a quiet ceremony of interment, but a farewell event is planned for the purpose can have been Patrick's 90th birthday in March 2013."
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picture of David Shukman Analysis David Shukman Science editor, BBC News
Sir Patrick Moore was the voice with the space age.
I recall during a vacation not following every detail of this famously rapid patter but I never minded - because like everyone who watched his broadcasts I had been swept along by his extraordinary energy and excitement.
Here was a person that could catch the atmosphere of the world enthralled by way of a heady combination of discovery and achievement.
With rockets launching satellites so astronauts above Earth and beyond, there was clearly no greater enthusiast to chronicle and illuminate an exciting new trend of exploration.
Generations knew growing up Patrick Moore his or her guide and the man proved hugely influential. Astronomy wasn't any longer a distinct segment activity.
The person using the monocle had touched folks who had never even regarded stargazing.
Find out more from David
Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore was developed at Pinner, Middlesex, on 4 March 1923.
Cardiovascular disease meant he spent most of his childhood being educated both at home and he became a passionate reader. His mother gave him a replica of GF Chambers' book, The tale with the Solar System, which sparked his lifelong passion for astronomy.
When war came he declined the place at Cambridge and lied about his age to sign up the RAF, serving like a navigator with Bomber Command and rising towards the rank of Flight Lieutenant.
Though the war brought him an individual tragedy after his fiancee, Lorna, was killed when an ambulance she was driving was hit by way of bomb. He never married.
Sir Patrick, who received a knighthood in 2001, won a Bafta for services to television and became a honorary fellow in the Royal Society. He a pacemaker built in 2006.
He was obviously a person in the british isles Independence party and, briefly, the minister of finance to the Monster Raving Loony Party, and attracted some controversy for his outspoken opinion of Europe and immigration.
Fellow scientists bring how Sir Patrick inspired a generation
His other TV credits add some role of Gamesmaster within the 1990s video games show of the identical name.
BBC science correspondent Pallab Ghosh said Sir Patrick's appearance sometimes aroused as often comment as his astronomy: "He was 6ft 3in, and used to be called owning an air of donnish dishevelment, together with his raised eyebrow, scarcely-brushed hair and poorly-fitting suits.
"His enthusiasm was unstoppable, and also on occasions although talk at 300 words a moment."
Television presenter and physicist Prof Brian Cox posted a note on Twitter saying: "Very sad news about Sir Patrick. Helped inspire my love of astronomy. Let me miss him!"
The acting director general from the BBC, Tim Davie, said his achievements on the corporation "were unmatched", adding that Sir Patrick are going to be missed by his "countless fans".
UKIP leader Nigel Farage said: "Since i have first met Sir Patrick when he dominated a UKIP stage in 1999, he's got been a buddy and an inspiration - not just to us in UKIP, but in the united states and round the world.
