Brian G. Marsden

Brian G. Marsden

Brian Geoffrey Marsden (born 5 August 1937) is a British astronomer, the longtime director of the Minor Planet Center (MPC) at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

He specializes in celestial mechanics and astrometry, collecting data on the positions of asteroids and comets and computing their orbits, often from minimal observational information and providing their future positions on International Astronomical Union (IAU) circulars. In addition to serving as MPC director since 1978, he served as the director of the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT) from 1968 to 1999.

Marsden has helped recover once-lost comets and asteroids. Some asteroid and comet discoveries of previous decades were "lost" because not enough observational data had been obtained at the time to determine a reliable enough orbit to know where to look for re-observation at future dates. Occasionally, a newly discovered object turns out to be a rediscovery of a previously lost object, which can be determined by calculating its orbit backwards into the past and matching calculated positions with the previously recorded positions of the lost object. In the case of comets this is especially tricky because of nongravitational forces that can affect their orbits (one of which is emission of jets of gas from the comet nucleus), but Marsden has specialized in calculating such nongravitational forces. Notably, he successfully predicted the 1992 return of the once-lost periodic comet Swift-Tuttle.

He once proposed that Pluto should be cross-listed as both a planet and a minor planet and assigned the asteroid number 10000; however, this proposal was not accepted. A similar proposal was, however, finally accepted in 2006 when Pluto was designated minor planet 134340 and also declared a dwarf planet.

Honours

Awards
*George Van Biesbroeck Prize of the American Astronomical Society (1989)
*Brouwer Award of the Division on Dynamical Astronomy of the American Astronomical Society (1995) [http://dda.harvard.edu/brouwer_award/brouw95.html]
*Royal Astronomical Society Award for Service to Astronomy and Geophysics (2006)Named after him
*Asteroid 1877 Marsden

External links

* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9401E2D91F30F930A25750C0A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all "Man in the News; A Cheery Herald of Fear: Brian Geoffrey Marsden" in "The New York Times" (13 March 1998)]
* [http://www.britastro.org/jbaa/archive/marsden.htm "1997 XF11 – the true story" in "The Journal of the British Astronomical Association" Vol. 109, No.1 (February 1999)]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Brian G. Marsden — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Brian et Marsden. Astéroïde découvert : 1 (37556) Svyaztie 28 août 1982 avec N. S. Chernykh Brian Geoffrey Marsden (né le 5 août 1937, mort le 18 novembre 2010 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Brian Marsden — Brian Geoffrey Marsden (* 5. August 1937 in Cambridge, England; † 18. November 2010 in Burlington, Massachusetts) war ein britischer Astronom, der in den USA lebte und arbeitete. Er war am Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Brian Marsden — Brian G. Marsden Pour les articles homonymes, voir Brian et Marsden. Astéroïde découvert : 1 (37556) Svyaztie 28 août 1982 avec N. S. Chernykh Brian G. Marsden (né le 5 août 1937) est un astronome américano …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Brian Marsden — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Brian G. Marsden (nacido en 1937) es un astrónomo británico, director del Minor Planet Center. Se ha especializado profesionalmente en mecánica celeste y astrometría, recolectando información sobre las posiciones de… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Marsden — Not to be confused with Marden. Contents 1 As a surname 2 As a place name 3 Other uses …   Wikipedia

  • Marsden — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Patronymie Marsden peut faire référence à : Brian G. Marsden (1937 2010), un astronome américain, Ernest Marsden (1889 1970), un physicien néo… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Marsden — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Bernie Marsden (* 1951), englischer Rockgitarrist Betty Marsden (1919–1998), britische Schauspielerin Brian Marsden (1937–2010), englischer Astronom Dora Marsden (1882–1960), englische Feministin,… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Brian Easton — (born 1943) is an economist from New Zealand. He has been economics columnist for the New Zealand Listener magazine for more than 20 years, giving him a high public profile. He has held a number of university teaching posts but currently works as …   Wikipedia

  • Marsden Medal — The Marsden Medal is a yearly award given by the New Zealand Association of Scientists. It honors a lifetime of outstanding service to the cause or profession of science, in recognition of service rendered to the cause or profession of science in …   Wikipedia

  • (1877) Marsden — Marsden. Asteroide n.º. 1877 de la serie (1971 FC), descubierto el 24 de marzo de 1971 desde Monte Palomar por Cornelis Johanne van Houten (1920 2002) y I. van Houten Groeneveld. Nombrado en honor de Brian Geoffrey Marsden (1937 2011) del… …   Wikipedia Español

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”