One of the BBC's longest-running TV shows, The Sky at Night, faces the axe less than a year after the death of the man who made it famous, Sir Patrick Moore.

The future of the series, which first aired in 1957, will be reviewed at the end of the year, prompting an angry protest from fans on Twitter and an online petition that had attracted more than 2,000 signatures by Tuesday morning.

The Sky at Night is now presented by cosmologists Lucie Green and Chris Lintott following Moore's death in December last year, aged 89. It now airs once a month, in a late-night slot on BBC1 and later on BBC4.

Moore presented a total of 721 episodes, only ever missing one broadcast, in July 2004, after he suffered food poisoning.

A BBC spokesman said: "Sky at Night is on air until the end of the year. Plans for subsequent series are being discussed."

As well as looking into space, discussing everything from comets to quasars, the show covered the 1999 solar eclipse and the Apollo moon landings of 1969. It has featured interviews with Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and author Arthur C Clarke.

The last episode, which looked at black holes, was watched by 202,000 viewers on BBC4, a 1% share of the audience. Although small compared to the audiences who watch peak-time programmes on BBC1 and ITV, it is a not insubstantial audience for BBC4.

Next month's programme will feature a "Moore moon marathon" and will be filmed on 18 October, the night of the penumbral eclipse.

Disgruntled viewers took to Twitter and an online petition, where one unhappy fan, Alan Fleming, wrote: "An absolute disgrace to axe this show. I have been watching this since the 1970s. I am not a minority market, I don't even own a telescope but as many others have mentioned here, it is the education and entertainment of this show which is important."

Another, John Hunt, said: "The Sky at Night inspired me as a child to become a scientist, now I'm a university professor who regards [it] as a vital part of science out-reach and public education."

Astronomy shows have been a big hit for BBC2 in recent years, with Stargazing Live presented by Professor Brian Cox, one of the BBC's biggest stars, and Dara O Briain, which was credited with generating a boom in interest in astronomy.

The Sky at Night is one of the BBC's longest running TV shows, its longevity eclipsed by current affairs show Panorama, which began four years earlier, in 1953.

• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email media@theguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".

• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook.