Mr. E. Moore of the Lunar Section – any info?

[Tim Haymes]

I write the lunar occultation report in the LSC. E.Moore is frequently credited. Does anyone have some info him ? (Full name, local AS etc).

There is one reference to him in the JBAA, 1973 August. Vol 83, No 5, page 361. Im wondering if he was also a double star observer since he was interested in the occultation of double stars.

There is an E.Moore (Eddie) who was a member of Reading AS in the 1970s/1980s, who i was acquainted with, and we observed together. I don’t think its the same person, but could be wrong.
https://www.stargazer.me.uk/grazes/GrazeObs.htm#Overton

[Tim Haymes]

Too add: The Lunar Section circular of 1975 Nov. is an interesting read: https://britastro.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Lunar-Section-Circular-1975-11.pdf. E. Moore presented a paper at the Reading Meeting. I was not at that meeting though.

[Bill Barton]

There’s an E G Moore active in the BAA around this time, the attached image is from the second half-century Journal index. He also contributed to The Astronomer where his address was: 44 Nelson Road, Rayleigh, Essex. By the time his final Journal contribution was published (vol 92, p.47) in 1981 he had moved to 1 Hillside Villas, Station Road, Pluckley, Kent.

• This reply was modified 2 weeks, 6 days ago by Bill Barton.
• This reply was modified 2 weeks, 6 days ago by Bill Barton.

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[Tim Haymes]

Thank you Bill. This extra info is very helpful. His Pluckley address coincides with some reported Occultations in the attachment.
All the best.

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[Jeremy Shears]

I remember visiting him at Pluckley in the 1980s to buy a copy of volume 1 of the Webb Society’s deep sky observing books. He was active in the Webb Soc. He wrote about Webb in the Journal in 1975: https://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1975JBAA…85..426M

[Callum Potter]

Try this link to get to the paper Jeremy mentions:

https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1975JBAA…85..426M/abstract

Or read the Journal in our archive at:
https://britastro.org/journal/journal-of-the-british-astronomical-association-vol-85-iss-5

[Jeremy Shears]

I enjoyed Tim Haymes’ write up in the current LSC mentioning his findings on EG Moore. Seeing the photo of EG Moore’s observatory reminds me how interested I was when I first read Moore’s article back in 1975 that he had used Beta Lights to illuminate key items in the observatory. They do not require a power supply. I couldn’t find a supply at the time.

Moore followed up with a Letter to the Edition in JBAA, 85(3), 283 (1975), https://britastro.org/wp-content/uploads/journals/v085i03j.pdf, about the safety aspects of these Tritium containing lights.

Betalights are still available: https://www.betalight.nl/

I also read “Betalights are generally considered safe due to their lack of electricity and spark risk, and the low-energy beta particles from tritium cannot penetrate the outer casing. In the unlikely event of a breakage, the tritium gas would disperse harmlessly, posing a minimal health risk. The self-luminous technology is reliable, maintenance-free, and certified to meet various safety and building codes”.

So, 50 years on, does anyone use them?

[Bill Barton]

Although it’s been several years since I had any involvement with railway level crossings, the emergency telephones used to be lit with a beta lite.

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