Charles/Richard,

I met Brian a few times when he came over to England. He was a great
supporter of amateurs and a very approachable person given his almost
god-like status in the comet world. I'm reminded of him almost every day
when I submit astrometry to the MPC and the response comes back from
vmsops@marsden.cfa.harvard.edu.

Gareth Williams wrote an obit for Brian in the Guardian which is online
here:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/nov/23/brian-marsden-obituary

This oral history interview with Brian, done in 2005, is well worth a read.

https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/32973-1

It shows how he rose from humble beginnings, honed his skills in the BAA
and then moved on to head the MPC. A really inspiring story.

Nick.

On 19/11/2020 00:29, Charles S Morris - cometguy3783 at yahoo.com (via
baa-comet list) wrote:
>   Hi Richard,
> Thank you for this.
> I knew Brian quite well.  From 1977-83, I lived just outside of Boston and spent many Saturdays at the Harvard College Observatory with Dan Green (and Brian) working on the International Comet Quarterly.  On a number of occasions I had dinner at Brian's house back then, including a couple of Christmas dinners.. Dan Green and also Sekanina (before he moved to California to work at JPL) would also attend.  There were many fascinating conversations - often while drinking sherry after dinner.  I still exchange Christmas cards with Nancy Marsden, Brian's wife.
> It was quite a sight watching Brian at the couple of Division of Planetary Science meetings (part of American Astronomical Society) that I attended.  Unlike anyone else there, Brian was like the Queen Bee with all the drone bees (including me) buzzing around him.  During one of those meetings that I attended I went out to dinner with Brian and probably 15 other astronomers for more than two hours.  Did we talk astronomy?  No!  Lead by Brian with only a couple of people participating, the entire night was spend discussing wine!  No one else was talking.  It was the most boring dinner I have ever had to sit through.  Oh well.
> Of course, when I moved to California to work at JPL, I only saw Brian when he came to JPL a couple of times.  He also came to the Riverside Telescope Makers Conference (held outside at a Boy Scout Camp outside of Big Bear, CA) in 1990, giving the keynote address.  That was the year that there were many comet discoverers (David Levy, Don Machholz, Jean Mueller and several others) and comet observers (including John Bortle, Alan Hale [later the discoverer of Hale-Bopp] and others) in attendance.  [Of course, Sky and Telescope only printed the picture with the discoverers. There is no glory just being an observer!]  Brian, however, was always supportive of both groups.
> I was told that Brian was running orbits to within a week or two of his passing.  That sounds like Brian.
> Charles S. MorrisICQ Associate EditorDreamweaver ObservatoryFillmore, CA USA