A space view of the paths in 2026 of nine of the million-plus asteroids in the Main Belt, farther from us than Mars but nearer in than Jupiter. The dashed line is the vernal equinox direction (longitude 0). Stalks to the ecliptic plane are at monthly intervals.
1877 Marsden was named in extremely well deserved honor of Brian Marsden, the late long-time chief of the Minor Planet Center, which handles so many of the details of astronomy. I considered him a friend; he spared time to give thorough answers to my email questions.
2925 Beatty bears the name of Kelly Beatty, the Sky & Telescope journalist and expert who nominated me.
3505 Byrd is for Deborah Byrd, founder of EarthSky.org, whom I met when I traveled to west Texas for a 1994 eclipse.
4276 Clifford is for Cliff Cunningham, who has published books about the history of the asteroids, and wrote sections on asteroids, also on spaceflight, for many years of my Astronomical Calendar.
7065 Fredschaaf: I got Fred Schaaf to be co-author of our book about Halley’s Comet. I call him the Great Appreciator; his writing, as in his columns for Sky & Telescope and the Atlantic City newspaper and his many large books such as The Starry Room and The Brightest Stars, are luminous with emotion. He is a leader in the campaign against light pollution.
8794 Joepatterson: I haven’t met Joe Patterson, professor of astronomy at Columbia University, but he wrote such a glowing letter of recommendation of me for an award for which I had been nominated that it was surprising I didn’t get it.
20009 Joerao: Joe Rao is a radio meteorologist and also planetarium lecturer. He wrote the section on eclipses for Astronomical Calendar 2007 to 2013.
30935 Davasobel: Dava Sobel’s genre-defining book Longitude first made her famous. I’ve been having helpful correspondence with her.
I calculate that the next oppositions of our minor planets are:
(1877) Marsden 2028 Sep 7
(2925) Beatty 2026 Dec 15
(3505) Byrd 2027 Jun 22
(4276) Clifford 2028 Mar 25
(7065) Fredschaaf 2027 Feb 9
(8794) Joepatterson 2028 Jan 29
(20009) Joerao 2027 Apr 15
(21008) Ottewell 2027 Oct 16
(30935) Davasobel 2027 Dec 6
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