Neville “Nod” Parsons

Station	Year	Season
Macquarie Is	1950	Winter
Mawson	1955	Winter

It is with much sadness that I pass on the news of the death of Neville “Nod” Parsons. He died peacefully this morning, 30 December at the age of 91.
“Nod” wintered at Macca in 1950 and Mawson in 1955 as Cosray and Auroral Physicist. He also participated in trips to Macca in 61/62 and 63/64.
He was a Foundation and Life Member of the ANARE Club.
Our thoughts are with his wife Jennifer and his family.
Email received from Jan Adolph 30/12/17

Neville, together with Phil Law and Fred Jacka (and a little later Bob Jacklyn), led the development of research in cosmic ray and upper atmosphere research at a time when satellite observations were just being planned. The IGY was the impetus for the quick development of land based observatories, and when I wintered at Mawson in 1970 and 1972 we were still l using the telescopes that Nod had built and installed in the silver Cosray hut on the hill – next to the met hut.

In 1972 Nod’s telescopes were relocated into the underground vault observatory at Mawson, which was designed and installed by my old mate, Attila Vrana. I was his side-kick. By siting the detectors 40 feet underground and into the rock at Mawson, Nod’s instruments were able to record much higher energy galactic particles than surface ones – an experiment designed by Bob Jacklyn. At the time it was cutting edge research – and an extension of Nod’s early work.
Vale to Nod, a fonder member of the ANARE Club, and an outstanding research physicist.

Email received from David Parer 31/12/17

Tribute to “Nod” Parsons received from Joe Johnson 31/12/17