Brian Marsden

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Brian Geoffrey Marsden (born August 5, 1937 in Cambridge , England , † November 18, 2010 in Burlington , Massachusetts ) was a British astronomer who lived and worked in the United States . He worked at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts and was Director of the Minor Planet Center from 1978 to 2006 .

Life

Marsden was born in Cambridge, England, in 1937 and studied astronomy at Oxford University and later at Yale University . He was an expert in the fields of celestial mechanics and astrometry and specialized in calculating the orbits of asteroids and comets , for which only little observation data is available, as well as in determining orbital deviations. For Pluto he proposed a dual status as a planet and asteroid (10,000).

Marsden predicted the current orbits of celestial bodies that were considered lost due to imprecise orbit determinations or whose orbits had changed. It is thanks to his work that “lost” comets and small planets have been rediscovered. Finding comets again can be difficult, in particular, as their orbit can change as a result of gravitational disturbances from other celestial bodies as well as non-gravitational effects ( recoil effect from the ejection of jets). For example, Marsden predicted the return of the periodic comet Swift-Tuttle , believed to be lost, in 1992 , which actually did occur. His calculations also showed that the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 had to crash on the planet Jupiter . He examined the orbits of the comets of the Kreutz group and showed that their members can be divided into two subgroups.

Together with Nikolai Stepanowitsch Tschernych , Marsden discovered the asteroid (37556) Svyaztie on August 28, 1982 .

He retired in August 2006.

Marsden has received multiple awards from the American Astronomical Society for his achievements .

The asteroid (1877) Marsden was named after Brian Marsden .

Publications

  • Brian G. Marsden, Z. Sekanina, DK Yeomans: Comets and nongravitational forces. V .; Astronomical Journal Volume 78, No. 2, March 1973; ( online )
  • Brian G. Marsden: Catalog of cometary orbits ; Minor Planet Center Cambridge Mas .; 7th amended edition 1992
  • Jane Luu, Brian G. Marsden, David Jewitt, Chadwick A. Trujillo, Carl W. Hergenrother, Jun Chen, Warren B. Offutt: A new dynamical class of object in the outer Solar System ; Nature , Volume 387, June 5, 1997 ( online )

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Marsden, Brian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Marsden, Brian Geoffrey (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH August 5, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Cambridge , England
DATE OF DEATH November 18, 2010
Place of death Burlington , Massachusetts