* Astronomy

Asteroid named for former Reginan Ed Majden

A friendly astronomer had several unnamed asteroids on file and Majden saw one named for himself - and another for his mentor, Hodges, who died in 1983.
Read more


The following citation from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada notes the recent naming of asteroid Majden by the Minor Planet Centre of the International Astronomical Union:

(142368) Majden 2002 RH233 (Discovered) 2002-09-14 by R. Matson on NEAT images taken at Palomar. (Named for) Edward (Ed) Majden (b. 1939. in Regina Saskatchewan), co-discoverer of two near- earth asteroids. (Majden) is an amateur astronomer best known for his 35+years' work recording meteor spectra. (He) was a member of the Regina Astronomical Society in the 1950's. During International Geophysical Year 1957-1958, Majden acted as the visual meteor reporter to the National Research Council of Canada for the Regina Astronomical Society. At that time, he was introduced to meteor spectroscopy by John V. Hodges, the late director of the Regina Astronomical Society's Observatory. After high school, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in June, 1958, and served for 27 years and 8 months as a radar systems technician. He started his own program of meteor spectroscopy in 1972, reporting his observations to Peter M. Millman at the National Research Council of Canada. After the termination of meteor work at the National Research Council of Canada, he reported his observations to Dr. Jiri Borovicka in the Czech Republic and other professionals that could make use of his spectra. He was appointed as the Meteor Spectroscopy Project Coordinator of the American Meteor Society. This work continued from his backyard observatory in Courtenay B.C. He is also the unofficial coordinator of the Sandia Bolide Detection Network for British Columbia. An associate member of Canada's Meteorites and Impacts Advisory Committee, Majden was awarded the 2006 Chant Medal by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

Source