| Venetia Burney | |
|---|---|
Venetia Burney at age 11 |
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| Born | Venetia Katharine Douglas Burney 11 July 1918 |
| Died | 30 April 2009 (aged 90) Banstead, England, UK |
| Known for | Naming Pluto |
| Spouse | Edward Maxwell Phair (m. 1947–2006) |
| Children | Patrick |
| Parents | Charles Fox Burney Ethel Wordsworth Madan |
| Relatives | Falconer Madan, grandfather |
Venetia Phair, née Burney (11 July 1918 – 30 April 2009) was the first person to suggest the name Pluto for the object[1] discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930. At the time, she was 11 years old and lived in Oxford, England.
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Venetia Katharine Douglas Burney was the daughter of Rev. Charles Fox Burney, Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at Oxford, and his wife Ethel Wordsworth Burney (née Madan). Venetia was the granddaughter of Falconer Madan (1851–1935), Librarian of the Bodleian Library of the University of Oxford.[2] Falconer Madan's brother, Henry Madan (1838–1901), Science Master of Eton, had in 1878 suggested the names Phobos and Deimos for the moons of Mars.[3]
On 14 March 1930, Falconer Madan read the story of the new planet's discovery in The Times, and mentioned it to his granddaughter Venetia. She suggested the name Pluto — the Roman God of the Underworld who was able to make himself invisible — and Falconer Madan forwarded the suggestion to astronomer Herbert Hall Turner, who cabled his American colleagues at Lowell Observatory. Tombaugh liked the proposal because it started with the initials of Percival Lowell who had predicted the existence of Pluto. On 1 May 1930, the name Pluto was formally adopted for this new celestial body.[4]
Burney was educated at Downe House School in Berkshire and Newnham College, Cambridge, where she studied mathematics. After graduation she became a chartered accountant. Later she became a teacher of economics and mathematics at girls’ schools in southwest London. She was married to Edward Maxwell Phair from 1947 until his death in 2006. Her husband, a classicist, later became housemaster and head of English at Epsom College. She died on 30 April 2009, aged 90, in Banstead.[5]
Only a few months before the reclassification of Pluto from a planet to a dwarf planet, with the debate going on about the issue, she said in an interview that "At my age, I've been largely indifferent to [the debate]; though I suppose I would prefer it to remain a planet."[4]
The asteroid 6235 Burney was named in her honour. The Student Dust Counter, an instrument on board the New Horizons spacecraft, was also renamed Venetia after her.[6]
The band The Venetia Fair was named after her, "Phair" being changed to "Fair".[7]