Astronaut Chris Hadfield receives gold medal from Trinity

Former International Space Station commander Chris Hadfield has received an honorary patronage from Trinity College Dublin.

He was awarded a gold medal of honorary patronage by the University Philosophical Society in front of a packed Trinity College exam hall on Saturday morning.

Cmdr Hadfield is in Dublin to promote his book You Are Here - Around the World in 92 Minutes. He has book signings in Eason, O'Connell Street, on Saturday and Dubray Books, Grafton Street and Eason, Dundrum Town Centre on Sunday.

You Are Here is a selection of 150 photographs selected from the 45,000 pictures he took while in space. The book is the No.1 hardback seller in the UK and all profits are going to the Red Cross.

Sifting through the photographs proved to be a mammoth task until his wife Helena came up with a methodology to deal with it.

"I was thinking how could I choose from 45,000 pictures," he told Dave Fanning on RTÉ 2fm on Saturday morning. "She said 'picture that one of your friends is in the space station with you and what pictures would they want to see'."

The book includes a picture of Ireland and Britain at night with the Northern Lights shimmering in the background. There are also pictures of the Nile Delta, the Himalayas, Venice and the Great Lakes.

Cmdr Hadfield is also in Dublin to do more promotion for Tourism Ireland.

Earlier this year he travelled the country making a series of videos on the Wild Atlantic Way, hurling and the Guinness Storehouse.

Cmdr Hadfield became the world’s best known astronaut when he started tweeting pictures from space while on the International Space Station between 2012 and 2013.

His video version of David Bowie's Space Oddity has been viewed more than 20 million times on YouTube.

He has taken a particular interest in Ireland and tweeted as gaeilge in February last year: “Tá Éire fíorálainn! Land of green hills and dark beer. With Dublin glowing in the Irish night.”

He duetted with The Chieftains from space and sang Danny Boy on St Patrick's Day.

His daughter Kristin studied for her PhD in Trinity College Dublin. She is now working in Chicago and hopes to graduate next month.