Irina Belskaya (born 1958) is a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

astronomer, specialist in

spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter wa ...

and polarimetry of Small Solar System bodies, head of the Department of Physics of Asteroids and Comets of the Institute of Astronomy of Kharkiv National University,Department of Physics of Asteroids and Comets
Institute of Astronomy of Kharkiv National University recipient of the

State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technology The State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technology is an annual award given by the President of Ukraine for accomplishments in science and technology. It is given for one of four categories: outstanding scientific research in the humanities, soc ...

(2010).Указ Президента України № 594/2011 Про присудження Державних премій України в галузі науки і техніки 2010 року
Президент України. Офіційне інтернет-представництво

Biography

Irina Belskaya was born on November 14, 1958, in

Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast ( uk, Харківська́ о́бласть, translit=Kharkivska oblast), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna ( uk, Ха́рківщина), is an oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. The oblast borders Russia to the north, Luhans ...

. In 1975, she graduated from a specialized physics and mathematics school with a gold medal and entered the Astronomy Department of

Kharkiv University The Kharkiv University or Karazin University ( uk, Каразінський університет), or officially V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University ( uk, Харківський національний університет імені ...

. In 1980, she graduated from the university with honors and began working at the Kharkiv Observatory. In 1987, she defended her PhD thesis "Photometry and polarimetry of M-type asteroids". She worked at the

Uppsala Observatory The Uppsala Astronomical Observatory (UAO), Astronomiska observatoriet i Uppsala) is the oldest astronomical observatory in Sweden. It was founded in 1741, though there was a professorial chair of astronomy at the University of Uppsala from 1593 ...

(

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, 1992-1993) and

Paris Observatory The Paris Observatory (french: Observatoire de Paris ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centers in the world. Its histor ...

(

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, 2002-2004).Бакіров В. С. (ред.). Бельська Ірина Миколаївна // Професори Харківського національного університету імені В. Н. Каразіна. Біобібліографічний довідник. — Харків : ХНУ ім. В. Н. Каразіна, 2009. — С. 34. — 700 прим. She received grants from the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

(1992), DAAD (2000), the

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

(2003), the

International Space Science Institute The International Space Science Institute (ISSI) is an Institute of Advanced Studies based in Bern, Switzerland. The institute's work is interdisciplinary, focusing on the study of the Solar System, and encompasses planetary sciences, astrophysics, ...

(2008), scholarship from the

Swedish Institute The Swedish Institute ( sv, Svenska institutet, ) is a government agency in Sweden with the responsibility to spread information about Sweden outside the country. It exists to promote Swedish interests, and to organise exchanges with other co ...

(1992), and the Marie Curie International Scholarship (2009).Irina Belskaya
Institute of Astronomy of Kharkiv National University In 2008, she defended her Sc.D. dissertation "Optical properties of surfaces of asteroids,

centaurs A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...

, and

Kuiper belt The Kuiper belt () is a circumstellar disc in the outer Solar System, extending from the orbit of Neptune at 30 astronomical units (AU) to approximately 50 AU from the Sun. It is similar to the asteroid belt, but is far larger—20 times ...

bodies". In 2010, she received the

for the collective work "Advancement of theoretical foundation, development and application of polarimetric techniques and instrumentation for remote sensing studies of Solar System objects by ground-based, aircraft, and spacecraft means".

Honours and awards

(2010) * Award of the International Academy of Astronautics for the best basic scientific book (2009) * The asteroid 8786 Belskaya is named after the scientist8786 Belskaya (1978 RA8)
JPL Small-Body Database Browser

References

Sources

* Бакіров В. С. (ред.). Бельська Ірина Миколаївна // Професори Харківського національного університету імені В. Н. Каразіна. Біобібліографічний довідник. — Харків : ХНУ ім. В. Н. Каразіна, 2009. — С. 34. — 700 прим.
Irina Belskaya
Institute of Astronomy of Kharkiv National University
Belskaya, Irina N.
in

Scopus Scopus is Elsevier's abstract and citation database launched in 2004. Scopus covers nearly 36,377 titles (22,794 active titles and 13,583 inactive titles) from approximately 11,678 publishers, of which 34,346 are peer-reviewed journals in top-l ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Belskaya, Irina 1958 births Ukrainian astronomers Ukrainian women scientists National University of Kharkiv alumni Living people Academic staff of Kharkiv Observatory