Kārlis Šteins (October 13, 1911 – April 4, 1983) was a

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

n and

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

and populariser of this science.

Biography

Šteins was born on October 13, 1911 in

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. In 1925 he finished the Riga 2nd Secondary school. In 1929 he started the studies in

University of Latvia University of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Universitāte, shortened ''LU'') is a state-run university located in Riga, Latvia established in 1919. The ''QS World University Rankings'' places the university between 801st and 1000th globally, seventh ...

, the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science. In 1934 he graduated from the University of Latvia. In 1933 he was practicing in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, at Kraków Astronomical Observatory under supervision of

Tadeusz Banachiewicz Tadeusz Julian Banachiewicz (13 February 1882, Warsaw – 17 November 1954, Kraków) was a Polish astronomer, mathematician and geodesist. Scientific career He was educated at University of Warsaw and his thesis was on "reduction constan ...

, and continued there until 1936. In 1933 he calculated the orbit of

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

1933 OP, discovered by

Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth (4 April 1892 in Heidelberg – 6 May 1979 in Heidelberg) was a German astronomer and a prolific discoverer of 395 minor planets. Scientific career From 1912 to 1957, Reinmuth was working as an astronomer at the Heide ...

, and named it

1284 Latvia 1284 Latvia, provisional designation , is a rare-type asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 37 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 27 July 1933, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observator ...

; this is the first

minor planet According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor ...

to bear a Latvia-related name. After 1951 he worked at the University of Latvia as professor at the department of Theoretical Physics. He became an associate professor (docent) in 1956, and professor in 1966. He became a member of the

IAU The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach ...

in 1958, and of the Astronomy council of the USSR Academy of Science in 1967. Karlis Steins enriched astronomy with his research in cosmogony, celestial mechanics, and problems of precise time. He had over 120 publications. He obtained his Ph.D. at

Pulkovo Observatory The Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory (russian: Пулковская астрономическая обсерватория, Pulkovskaya astronomicheskaya observatoriya), officially named the Central Astronomical Observatory of the Russian Academ ...

in 1963 by defending his thesis on the evolution of comet orbits. Asteroid

2867 Šteins 2867 Šteins (provisional designation ) is an irregular, diamond-shaped background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 4 November 1969 by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Chernykh at the ...

discovered in 1969 by

astronomer

Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh (russian: Никола́й Степа́нович Черны́х) (6 October 1931 – 25 May 2004Казакова, Р.К. Памяти Николая Степановича Черных'. Труды Государст ...

, and imaged by the

Rosetta spacecraft ''Rosetta'' was a space probe built by the European Space Agency launched on 2 March 2004. Along with ''Philae'', its lander module, ''Rosetta'' performed a detailed study of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (67P). During its journey to the ...

in 2008, is named in honor of Šteins.Karl Avgustovich Šteins
/ref>

References

1911 births 1983 deaths Scientists from Kazan Latvian scientists Latvian astronomers Soviet astronomers University of Latvia alumni Academic staff of the University of Latvia {{Latvia-scientist-stub