I thought it appropriate to signal that today marks 10 years since Brian
Marsden passed away, departing this Earth for orbits new having been born in
Cambridge, England on 1937 August 5.

He was awarded the Merlin Medal and Gift in 1965, and received the Walter
Goodacre Medal (the BAA's senior award) in 1979 in recognition of his
contribution to the progress of astronomy over many years.

After obtaining his Ph.D from Yale University, he was invited by Fred
Whipple (of cometary fame) to join the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1965. Professionally, he served as the
Director of the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT) from 1968
to 1999, and became Director of the Minor Planet Center in 1978. From
2000-2003, he was president of IAU Commission 6, which  oversees the
dissemination of information and the assignment of credit for astronomical
discoveries.

One claim to fame that will survive is his part in the downfall of Pluto as
a planet. He first proposed that Pluto should be assigned a number as an
asteroid (he suggested 10000) but was unsuccessful. During his term as
President of IAU Commission 6 he actively campaigned to demote Pluto and I
well remember the lively discussion at the IAU General Assembly in
Manchester in 2000 August (that I happened to gatecrash as a keen amateur).
I managed to get most of it recorded unofficially on a videocamera (bought
for the 1999 solar eclipse) whilst sitting in the lecture theatre. Patrick
Moore was also a guest of honour there, sitting on the front row. I shall
have to dig out that videotape, given it is now more than 20 years old, so
that it can be lodged in the BAA archives, and possibly made available
online. Eventually in 2006 at the IAU in Prague, Pluto officially became
dwarf planet (134340) Pluto.

Richard Miles

See:
http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/2011JBAA..121...56H/0000056.000.html