BAA Update

Obituary: J. C. D. Marsh, 1927 January 2−2004 May 11

By himself versity of Hertfordshire, Hampshire born and bred, ‘Lou’ Marsh (it was awarded doesn’t matter where the nickname origi- an honorary nated) was nudged into clerking in a bank MSc, and ap- after leaving school but was rescued by join- pointed a Vis- ing the Navy in 1944. After swanning iting Fellow in around the Far East for a couple of years the Faculty of mending naval radar sets he was invited af- Natural Sci- ter demobilisation to return as a civilian lec- ences. He turer at the naval radar school HMS trained to be- Collingwood. This life as a civil servant come a volun- lasted three years and then, after becoming teer adviser at a chartered radio and electronic engineer, he the Citizens joined Kelvin Hughes (Marine) Ltd as a ra- Advice Bureau dar development engineer. This lasted some where he has six years. There followed short spells as worked for the chief technical publications officer with last six years, Murphy Radio, lecturing at the EMI Col- and in his Lou Marsh (right) with Sir Patrick Moore at the opening of the J. C. D. Marsh lege of Electronics and then to what was spare time at Bayfordbury in 1995. Courtesy then the Hatfield College of Technology as managed to C. R. Kitchin/University of Hertfordshire. a lecturer in the Department of Electrical publish a few Engineering. papers, mainly on lunar photography and Having been an amateur astronomer for radio emission from the solar corona. New members many years Lou was able to persuade the AcademicNew Board members of what had become the A personal recollection Hatfield Polytechnic to include The British Astronomical Association cor- in its portfolio of academic courses, obtain I have known Lou since 1964, when I joined dially welcomes the following new members: funding to build an observatory and allow a local group of amateur astronomers. We Elected 2003 November 29 him to take sabbatical leave at Leicester Uni- used to meet once a month at one another’s versity to research for a higher degree. The houses and if the sky was clear, out would Bennett Anthony, Westgate on Sea, Kent Observatory was opened in 1970 and Lou come the for an evening’s observ- Bianciardi Giorgio, Siena, Italy was appointed Head of Astronomy and Di- ing. Later, when the Bayfordbury Observa- Brewster Keith, Tottenham, London N1 rector of the Observatory, posts that he held tory opened, we frequently met there to use Brugman Ad, Lower Maescoed, Herefords. until he retired mainly for health reasons in the telescopes. The main instrument is named 1987. During the 17 years at the Observa- the J. C. D. Marsh Telescope. Calia Charles Laird, Ridgefield, CT, USA tory he served on committees of the SRC, Lou joined the BAA in January 1962 and Christmas Emma Jane, Upminster, Essex CNAA (Council for National Academic served both as a committee member of the Crawley Derek, Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex Awards), RAS and BAA. Lunar Section, and on the BAA Council. Davies Morgan Ioan, Cheltenham, Glos. Since retirement Lou continued to lec- When I took my MSc in astronomy (1991− Davis Rick, Davie, Florida, USA ture occasionally at what is now the Uni- 1994), Lou acted as supervisor for my the- sis and also taught me the basic principles of Docherty Edward, Formby, Liverpool . Eadie Robert, Hardingstone, Northampton  However, it may have been observed in After retiring from the Directorship of the Everett Stephanie, Southend-on-Sea, Essex 1966 and so may be a recurrent object; moreo- Observatory, he built his own Filho Jose Roberto de Siqueira, Sao Paulo, ver, the IRAS satellite noted an object at this to monitor radio emissions from the at a Brazil position when it surveyed the sky in frequency of 150MHz. He made regular Furness Peter, West Gorton, Manchester 1983−’04. The object, informally named daily recordings of solar radio activity and ‘McNeil’s Nebula’, could be important in contributed three papers to the Journal on Galea Adrian, Eastbourne, East Sussex our understanding of stellar evolution and the results, the last of which appeared in the Goldberg Jane Margaret, London, NW4 amateur CCD monitoring of it could be of 2003 June issue. Green Peter, Co. Dublin, Ireland much scientific interest. Paul Whitmarsh Lou had a very friendly and outgoing per- Hanna Phillip, Orpington, Kent showed a CCD image of the nebula he had sonality and was widely respected by both Harrhy, Pontllanfraith, Gwent taken with a 300mm telephoto lens. professional and amateur astronomers. He The meeting concluded with a few words was diagnosed as having cancer of the throat Hurst, Crawley, West Sussex of thanks to the speakers from Stewart in December 2002 and had frequent laser Kelly Steven, Thatcham, Berkshire Moore and the presentation of a second bot- treatments on the tumour. He fought the dis- Macalpine Andrew, London, N tle of wine to Nick Hewitt. Thanks were ease bravely, but in the end it overcame him. Maggs David Nigel, Chippenham, Wilts. also given to Cyril Sampson of the North- He will be sadly missed by his family and Manditsch Maxine, Rome, Italy amptonshire Natural History Society for his many friends. He leaves his wife Sue, two sterling work in preparing the refreshments. sons and three grandchildren. Martin Bruce, Bournemouth, Dorset Martin Nathan Paul, Deal, Kent Lee Macdonald Edward Ellis Murray Norman, Down, Belfast

J. Br. Astron. Assoc. 114, 5, 2004 285