[meteorite-list] RIP Brian Marsden

[bernd.pauli at paulinet.de]

Sad news indeed ...

Fred L. Whipple (1985) The Mystery Of Comets, p. 72:

"More than two centuries of intensive comet hunting, coupled with information
 from older records, give us vitally important clues to the habits of comets, how
 they move, and where they come from. The authoritative catalogue of comet
 orbits, compiled in 1982 by Brian G. Marsden at the Smithsonian Astrophysical
 Observatory, contains 1,109 orbits for 710 individual comets observed, a far cry
 from the 24 so laboriously calculated by Halley."


An interesting interview in S + T and on how to send an astronomical telegram
(before the internet turned our planet into a "global village"):

Sky & Tel. (1980) An interview with B. Marsden:
Life in the hot seat (S+T, Aug 80, pp. 92-96).

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Bernd