Tom Marsh (astronomer)

Thomas Richard Marsh (1961–2022) was a British astronomer and astrophysicist. His research topics included the accretion and evolution of binary star systems.[1] He was awarded the Herschel Medal in 2018 for his development of doppler tomography which he used to study compact binary stars.[2][3]

Tom Marsh
Marsh in 2010
Born
Thomas Richard Marsh

1961 (1961)
Old Windsor, England, UK
Died2022 (aged 60–61)
Alma mater
Employers

International and public engagement

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Marsh worked to bring astronomy to less affluent countries and maintained a strong link with Thailand. This enabled astronomers there to use his high-speed cameras and be part of these international endeavours. He also worked with amateur astronomers, and one of his high-profile papers resulted from an initial observation by an amateur astronomer that he followed up.[4]

He went missing on 16 September 2022 while hiking during an observing visit to La Silla Observatory in Chile, and his body was found in the Atacama Desert on 10 November 2022.[5][6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Simion @Yonescat, Florin. "Professor Tom Marsh". The Royal Astronomical Society. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  2. ^ "Professor Tom Marsh, astrophysicist whose research on binary stars helped shed light on how the universe evolved", The Daily Telegraph, 18 November 2022
  3. ^ RAS medals and awards honour leading astronomers and geophysicists, Royal Astronomical Society, 2018, archived from the original on 14 January 2018
  4. ^ "Professor Tom Marsh". warwick.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  5. ^ Keith Perry (11 November 2022), "Body of missing astronomer Tom Marsh found in Chile's Atacama desert", The Times
  6. ^ "Body confirmed as Warwick University professor missing in Chile". BBC News. 18 November 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
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