A TV presenter’s personal archive has been acquired by the Science Museum.

Astronomer Sir Patrick Moore’s collection includes manuscripts, memorabilia and extensive research.

The presenter of BBC’s The Sky At Night for more than 50 years lived and worked from his home in Selsey and compiled an extensive archive before he died in 2012.

Brian May, lead guitarist in rock band Queen, has a PHD in astrophysics and was a close friend of Mr Moore.

He said his friends and executors spent a year looking for a fitting home for the “legendary” work.

He said: “We’re sure Patrick would be honoured that his legacy – a national treasure – will be in the perfect place, safe in Britain’s top scientific museum, with plans for the material to be accessible to future generations.”

Draft scripts from his programme – which still holds the record as the longest-running television series with the same, original presenter – will be included in the collection at the museum’s library in Wiltshire.

Once it has been catalogued, it will be available to the public for research. It also contains about 70 observation books with detailed drawings and records of the night skies, and a 12.5in reflecting telescope he nicknamed Oscar and used for mapping the Moon.

Alison Boyle, deputy keeper of science and medicine at the museum, said: “Sir Patrick Moore was a towering figure in astronomy and broadcasting during a remarkable career spanning most of the 20th century.”