This list of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

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 ...

s and astrophysicists includes the famous astronomers, astrophysicists and

cosmologist Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...

s from the

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. ...

, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Alphabetical list

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A

Tateos Agekian Tateos Artemjevich Agekian ( hy, Թադևոս Արտեմի Աղեկյան, russian: Татеос Артемьевич Агекян, 12 May 1913, Batumi – 16 January 2006, Saint Petersburg) was a Soviet astrophysicist of Armenian descent, and on ...

, one of the pioneers of Russian and world

Stellar dynamics Stellar dynamics is the branch of astrophysics which describes in a statistical way the collective motions of stars subject to their mutual gravity. The essential difference from celestial mechanics is that the number of body N \gg 10. Typica ...

, discoverer of two evolutionary sequences of stellar systems: nearly spherical and strongly flattened *

Vladimir Albitsky Vladimir Aleksandrovich Albitzky (russian: Владимир Александрович Альбицкий) (16 June 1891 – 15 June 1952) was a Soviet/Russian astronomer and discoverer of minor planets. In modern English transliteration, his surn ...

, discovered a significant number of asteroids *

Viktor Ambartsumian Viktor Amazaspovich Ambartsumian (russian: Виктор Амазаспович Амбарцумян; hy, Վիկտոր Համազասպի Համբարձումյան, ''Viktor Hamazaspi Hambardzumyan''; 12 August 1996) was a Soviet Armenian astr ...

, one of the founders of

theoretical astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the hea ...

, discoverer of

stellar associations A stellar association is a very loose star cluster, looser than both open clusters and globular clusters. Stellar associations will normally contain from 10 to 100 or more stars. The stars share a common origin, but have become gravitationally u ...

, founder of

Byurakan Observatory The Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory, or Byurakan Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the Armenian Academy of Sciences. It is located on the slope of Mount Aragats in the village of Byurakan in Armenia. History Fou ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

Andrejs Auzāns Andrejs Auzāns (1871–1953) was a Latvian general and topographer. Auzāns was a major general in the Imperial Russian Army, best known for being the commander of the 7th Bauska Rifleman Regiment and the 2nd Rifleman Brigade. He also served ...

, director of the Tashkent observatory, 1911-1916

B

Nikolai P. Barabashov Nikolai Pavlovich Barabashov (russian: Никола́й Па́влович Барабашо́в; March 30, 1894 – April 29, 1971) was a Ukrainian astronomer. Barabashov was born in Kharkiv, Kharkbv Governorate, Russian Empire. He graduated ...

, co-author of the ground breaking publication of the first pictures of the far side of the Moon in 1961, called ''Atlas of the Other Side of the Moon''; a crater and a planet were named after him *

Vladimir Belinski Vladimir Alekseevich Belinski (last name is also spelled Belinsky, russian: Владимир Алексеевич Белинский; born 26 March 1941) is a Russian and Italian theoretical physicist involved in research in cosmology and general ...

, an author of the

BKL singularity A Belinski–Khalatnikov–Lifshitz (BKL) singularity is a model of the dynamic evolution of the universe near the initial gravitational singularity, described by an anisotropic, chaotic solution of the Einstein field equation of gravitation ...

model of the Universe evolution *

Igor Belkovich Igor Vladimirovich Belkovich (Игорь Владимирович Белькович) (October 15, 1904 ( OS: October 2) – May 30, 1949) was a Soviet astronomer. His son Oleg Igorevich Belkovich was also an astronomer. The crater Belkovic ...

, made contributions to astronomy; the crater Bel'kovich on the Moon is named after him *

Aristarkh Belopolsky Aristarkh Apollonovich Belopolsky (Аристарх Аполлонович Белопольский) (, Moscow – 16 May 1934, Pulkovo (Saint Petersburg), Pulkovo, Leningrad Oblast, Leningrad) was a Russian astronomer. He was born in Moscow ...

, invented a

spectrograph An optical spectrometer (spectrophotometer, spectrograph or spectroscope) is an instrument used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically used in spectroscopic analysis to identify mate ...

based on the

Doppler effect The Doppler effect or Doppler shift (or simply Doppler, when in context) is the change in frequency of a wave in relation to an observer who is moving relative to the wave source. It is named after the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler, who d ...

, among the first photographers of

stellar spectra Astronomical spectroscopy is the study of astronomy using the techniques of spectroscopy to measure the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, including visible light, ultraviolet, X-ray, infrared and radio waves that radiate from stars and othe ...

Sergey Belyavsky Sergey Ivanovich Belyavsky (russian: Серге́й Ива́нович Беля́вский; December 7, 1883 (Julian calendar: November 25) – October 13, 1953) was a Soviet/Russian astronomer and a discoverer of 36 numbered minor planets ...

, discovered the bright naked-eye comet C/1911 S3 (Beljawsky); discovered and co-discovered a number of asteroids * Gennady S. Bisnovatyi-Kogan, first determined the maximum mass of a hot neutron star *

Sergey Blazhko Sergey Nikolayevich Blazhko (''Сергей Николаевич Блажко'' in Russian) (November 17, 1870 – February 11, 1956, Moscow) was a Russian and Soviet astronomer, a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Uni ...

, discovered a secondary variation of the amplitude and period of some RR Lyrae stars and related pulsating variables, now known as the Blazhko effect *

Semion Braude Semion Yakovlevich Braude ( uk, Семен Якович Брауде; 28 January 1911 – 29 June 2003) was a Soviet and Ukrainian physicist and radio astronomer. Of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, Braude was born in Poltava, Ukraine, and pursued his hig ...

, co-developed large-scale radio interferometers for precise examination of extraterrestrial radio sources *

Fyodor Bredikhin Fyodor Aleksandrovich Bredikhin (russian: Фёдор Александрович Бредихин, 8 December 1831 – 14 May 1904 ( O.S.: 1 May)) was a Russian astronomer. His surname is sometimes given as Bredichin in the literature, and non- ...

, developed the theory of

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

tails,

meteor A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as micr ...

s and

meteor shower A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate, or originate, from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at extre ...

s, a director of the

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

Matvei Petrovich Bronstein Matvei Petrovich Bronstein (russian: Матве́й Петро́вич Бронште́йн, , Vinnytsia – February 18, 1938) was a Soviet theoretical physicist, a pioneer of quantum gravity, author of works in astrophysics, semiconductors, q ...

, theoretical physicist; pioneer of quantum gravity; author of works in astrophysics, semiconductors, quantum electrodynamics and cosmology *

Jacob Bruce }, tr. ; 11 May 1669 – 30 April 1735) was a Russian general, statesman, diplomat and scientist of Scottish descent (Clan Bruce), one of the chief associates of Peter the Great. According to his own record, his ancestors had lived in Russia s ...

, statesman, naturalist and astronomer, founder of the first

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...

in Russia (in the

Sukharev Tower The Sukharev Tower (Сухарева башня) was a Moscow landmark until its destruction by Soviet authorities in 1934. Tsar Peter I of Russia had the tower built in the Moscow baroque style at the intersection of the Garden Ring with Sretenk ...

)

C

Lyudmila Chernykh Lyudmila Ivanovna Chernykh (russian: Людми́ла Ива́новна Черны́х, June 13, 1935 in Shuya, Ivanovo Oblast, Shuya, Ivanovo Oblast – July 28, 2017) was a Russian-born Soviet Union, Soviet astronomer, wife and colleague of Ni ...

, astronomer, discovered 268

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. ...

s *

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

, astronomer, discovered 537 asteroids and two comets *

Aleksandr Chudakov Aleksandr Evgenievich Chudakov (16 June 1921 – 25 January 2001) was a Soviet Russian physicist in the field of cosmic-ray physics, known for ''Chudakov Effect'', the effect of decreasing ionization losses for narrow electron-positron pair ...

, co-discoverer of the Earth's radiation belt

D

* Denis Denisenko, astronomer, author of more than 25 scientific articles and a presenter at five international conferences *

A. G. Doroshkevich Andrei Georgievich Doroshkevich (russian: Андрей Георгиевич Дорошкевич, born 1937) is a Russians, Russian (and former Soviet Union, Soviet) astrophysics, theoretical astrophysicist and physical cosmology, cosmologist, hea ...

, along with Igor Novikov, discovered cosmic microwave background radiation as a detectable phenomenon *

Alexander Dubyago Alexander Dmitriyevich Dubyago (''Александр Дмитриевич Дубяго'' in Russian) (December 5(18), 1903, Kazan - October 29, 1959, Kazan) was a Soviet astronomer and expert in theoretical astrophysics. The lunar crater Dubyago ...

, expert in theoretical astrophysics; the lunar crater Dubyago is named after him and his father,

Dmitry Ivanovich Dubyago Dmitry Ivanovich Dubyago (''Дмитрий Иванович Дубяго'' in Russian) (September 21 ( N.S. October 3), 1849 – October 22, 1918) was a Russian astronomer and expert in theoretical astrophysics, astrometry, and gravimetry. ...

* Dmitry Dubyago, expert in theoretical astrophysics, astrometry, and gravimetry; a crater on the Moon is named after him and his son

E

Vasily Engelhardt Vasily Pavlovich von Engelhardt (russian: Василий Павлович Энгельгардт) (17 July 1828, Kustovichi, Grodno Region, Russian Empire (now Belarus)) - 6 May 1915, Dresden) was a Russian astronomer, landowner and public figur ...

, researched comets, asteroids, nebulae, and star clusters, in an observatory he built himself

F

Vasily Fesenkov Vasiliy Grigorievich Fesenkov (13 January 1889 – 12 March 1972) was a Soviet Union, Soviet Russian astrophysicist. Biography He was born in Novocherkassk. After graduating from the Kharkov University (1911) he entered the University of Paris ...

, founded the Alma-Ata (now

Tien Shan The Tian Shan,, , otk, 𐰴𐰣 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃, , tr, Tanrı Dağı, mn, Тэнгэр уул, , ug, تەڭرىتاغ, , , kk, Тәңіртауы / Алатау, , , ky, Теңир-Тоо / Ала-Тоо, , , uz, Tyan-Shan / Tangritog‘ ...

) astrophysical observatory, and was the first to make a study of Zodiacal light using photometry, and suggested a theory of its dynamics *

Kirill Florensky Kirill Pavlovich Florensky (russian: Кири́лл Па́влович Флоре́нский; 27 December 1915 – 9 April 1982) was a Russian Soviet geochemist and planetologist. He was head of comparative planetology at the Vernadsky Ins ...

, head of Comparative Planetology at the Vernadsky Institute of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences; the crater Florensky on the Moon is named after him *

Alexander Friedmann Alexander Alexandrovich Friedmann (also spelled Friedman or Fridman ; russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Фри́дман) (June 16 .S. 4 1888 – September 16, 1925) was a Russian and Soviet physicist and mathematician ...

, mathematician and cosmologist, discovered the expanding-universe

solution Solution may refer to: * Solution (chemistry), a mixture where one substance is dissolved in another * Solution (equation), in mathematics ** Numerical solution, in numerical analysis, approximate solutions within specified error bounds * Soluti ...

to the

general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity and Einstein's theory of gravity, is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of gravitation in modern physics ...

field equations A classical field theory is a physical theory that predicts how one or more physical fields interact with matter through field equations, without considering effects of quantization; theories that incorporate quantum mechanics are called quantum ...

.; authored the FLRW metric of

Universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. Acc ...

* Alexei Fridman, predicted existence of smaller satellites around

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars (mythology), Mars), grandfather ...

G

George Gamow George Gamow (March 4, 1904 – August 19, 1968), born Georgiy Antonovich Gamov ( uk, Георгій Антонович Гамов, russian: Георгий Антонович Гамов), was a Russian-born Soviet and American polymath, theoreti ...

, theoretical physicist and cosmologist, discovered alpha decay via quantum tunneling and

Gamow factor The Gamow factor, Sommerfeld factor or Gamow–Sommerfeld factor, named after its discoverer George Gamow or after Arnold Sommerfeld, is a probability factor for two nuclear particles' chance of overcoming the Coulomb barrier in order to undergo nu ...

stellar nucleosynthesis Stellar nucleosynthesis is the creation (nucleosynthesis) of chemical elements by nuclear fusion reactions within stars. Stellar nucleosynthesis has occurred since the original creation of hydrogen, helium and lithium during the Big Bang. As a ...

, introduced the

Big Bang nucleosynthesis In physical cosmology, Big Bang nucleosynthesis (abbreviated BBN, also known as primordial nucleosynthesis) is the production of nuclei other than those of the lightest isotope of hydrogen (hydrogen-1, 1H, having a single proton as a nucleus) du ...

theory, predicted

cosmic microwave background In Big Bang cosmology the cosmic microwave background (CMB, CMBR) is electromagnetic radiation that is a remnant from an early stage of the universe, also known as "relic radiation". The CMB is faint cosmic background radiation filling all spac ...

Vitaly Ginzburg Vitaly Lazarevich Ginzburg, ForMemRS (russian: Вита́лий Ла́заревич Ги́нзбург, link=no; 4 October 1916 – 8 November 2009) was a Russian physicist who was honored with the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2003, together with ...

, co-developed the theory of superconductivity, the theory of electromagnetic wave propagation in plasmas, and a theory of the origin of cosmic radiation *

Sergey Glazenap Sergey Pavlovich Glazenap (russian: Серге́й Павлович Глазенап; 13(25) September 1848 - 12 April 1937) was a Russian and Soviet astronomer, honorary member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences (1929), and Hero of Socialist Labo ...

, astronomer; a crater on the Moon and the minor planet

857 Glasenappia 857 Glasenappia is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. It was named after Russian astronomer Sergey Glazenap, who was often referred to as "S. de Glasenapp" in pre-Russian Revolution, Revolution publications. References External links

* * ...

are named after him *

Alexander A. Gurshtein Alexander Aronovich Gurshtein (russian: Александр Аронович Гурштейн, ''Aleksandr Aronovich Gurshteyn''; February 21, 1937 – April 3, 2020) was a Soviet Union, Soviet/Russian astronomer and historian of science. Early ...

, developed a concept of history of constellations and the zodiac *

Matvey Gusev Matvey Matveyevich Gusev (russian: Матве́й Матве́евич Гу́сев) ( in Vyatka, Russia– in Berlin, Germany) was a Russian astronomer who worked at Pulkovo Observatory near St. Petersburg from 1850 to 1852 ...

, the first to prove the non-sphericity of the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

, pioneer of photography in astronomy

I

Naum Idelson Naum Ilyich Idelson (''Наум Ильич Идельсон'' in Russian language, Russian) (March 1(13), 1885, Saint Petersburg - July 14, 1951, Saint Petersburg, Leningrad) was a Soviet Union, Soviet Theoretical astrophysics, theoretical astronom ...

, astronomer

J

Benjamin Jekhowsky Benjamin Jekhowsky ( ru , Вениамин Павлович Жеховский, born 1881 in Saint-Petersburg (Russia), died in 1975, Encausse-les-Thermes (France)) was a Russian–French astronomer, born in Saint-Petersburg in a noble family o ...

, discovered a number of asteroids; made more than 190 scientific publications; the asteroid 1606 Jekhovsky is named after him

K

Lyudmila Karachkina Lyudmila Georgievna Karachkina (russian: Людмила Георгиевна Карачкина, born 3 September 1948, Rostov-on-Don) is an astronomer and discoverer of minor planets. In 1978 she began as a staff astronomer of the Institute for ...

, discovered a number of asteroids, including the Amor asteroid 5324 Lyapunov, 10031 Vladarnolda and the Trojan asteroid 3063 Makhaon *

Nikolai Kardashev Nikolai Semyonovich Kardashev ( rus, Никола́й Семёнович Кардашёв, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj sʲɪˈmʲɵnəvʲɪtɕ kərdɐˈʂof; 25 April 1932 – 3 August 2019) was a Soviet and Russian astrophysicist, Doctor of Physical and M ...

, astrophysicist, inventor of

Kardashev scale The Kardashev scale (Russian: Шкала Кардашева, ''Shkala Kardasheva'') is a method of measuring a civilization's level of technological advancement based on the amount of energy it is able to use. The measure was proposed by Sovie ...

for ranking the space civilizations *

Isaak Khalatnikov Isaak Markovych Khalatnykov ( uk, Ісаа́к Ма́ркович Хала́тников; 17 October 1919 – 9 January 2021) was a leading Soviet theoretical physicist who has made significant contributions to many areas of theoretical physics, ...

, an author of the

model of the Universe evolution *

Viktor Knorre Viktor Karlovich Knorre russian: Виктор Карлович Кнорре(4 October 1840 – 25 August 1919) was a Russian astronomer of German ethnic origin. He worked in Nikolaev, Pulkovo and Berlin and is best known for having discovered 158 ...

, astronomer, discovered four asteroids * Marian Kowalski, first to measure the rotation of the

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...

Nikolai Aleksandrovich Kozyrev Nikolai Alexandrovich Kozyrev (russian: Никола́й Алекса́ндрович Ко́зырев; 2 September 1908 – 27 February 1983) was a Soviet Russian astronomer and astrophysicist. Biography He was born in St. Petersburg, and by 1 ...

, astronomer, observed the transient lunar phenomenon *

Georgij A. Krasinsky Georgij Albertovich Krasinsky (Георгий Альбертович Красинский, February 19, 1939; Leningrad, USSR – March 17, 2011, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian astronomer active at the Institute of Applied Astronomy, Russian Acad ...

, astronomer, researched planetary motions and ephemeris *

Feodosy Krasovsky Feodosy Nikolaevich Krasovsky (russian: Феодосий Николаевич Красовский) ( – October 1, 1948) was a Russian and later Soviet Union, Soviet astronomer and geodesist. He was born in Galich, Russia, Galich. In 1900 he gra ...

, astronomer and geodesist; measured the Krasovsky ellipsoid, a coordinate system used in the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and the post-Soviet states * Yevgeny Krinov, astronomer, renowned meteorite researcher; the mineral Krinovite, discovered in 1966, was named after him

L

Anders Johan Lexell Anders Johan Lexell (24 December 1740 – ) was a Finnish-Swedish astronomer, mathematician, and physicist who spent most of his life in Imperial Russia, where he was known as Andrei Ivanovich Leksel (Андрей Иванович Лексе ...

, astronomer and mathematician; researcher of

celestial mechanics Celestial mechanics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the motions of objects in outer space. Historically, celestial mechanics applies principles of physics (classical mechanics) to astronomical objects, such as stars and planets, to ...

and comet astronomy; proved that Uranus is a planet rather than a comet *

Andrei Linde Andrei Dmitriyevich Linde (russian: Андре́й Дми́триевич Ли́нде; born March 2, 1948) is a Russian-American theoretical physicist and the Harald Trap Friis Professor of Physics at Stanford University. Linde is one of the ...

, created the Universe

chaotic inflation theory Eternal inflation is a hypothetical inflationary universe model, which is itself an outgrowth or extension of the Big Bang theory. According to eternal inflation, the inflationary phase of the universe's expansion lasts forever throughout most o ...

Evgeny Lifshitz Evgeny Mikhailovich Lifshitz (russian: Евге́ний Миха́йлович Ли́фшиц; February 21, 1915, Kharkiv, Russian Empire – October 29, 1985, Moscow, Russian SFSR) was a leading Soviet physicist and brother of the physicist ...

, an author of the

model of the Universe evolution *

Mikhail Lomonosov Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (; russian: Михаил (Михайло) Васильевич Ломоносов, p=mʲɪxɐˈil vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ , a=Ru-Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov.ogg; – ) was a Russian Empire, Russian polymath, s ...

polymath, inventor of the

off-axis reflecting telescope A reflecting telescope (also called a reflector) is a telescope that uses a single or a combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century by Isaac Newton as an alternati ...

, discoverer of the

atmosphere of Venus The atmosphere of Venus is the layer of gases surrounding Venus. It is composed primarily of supercritical carbon dioxide and is much denser and hotter than that of Earth. The temperature at the surface is 740 K (467 °C, 872 ° ...

Mikhail Lyapunov Mikhail Vasilyevich Lyapunov () was a Russian astronomer and a head of the Demidov Lyceum in Yaroslavl. He was the father of Aleksandr and Sergei Lyapunov Sergei Mikhailovich Lyapunov (or Liapunov; russian: Серге́й Миха́йло� ...

, astronomer *

Kronid Lyubarsky Kronid Arkadyevich Lyubarsky (russian: Крони́д Арка́дьевич Люба́рский; 4 April 1934 – 23 May 1996) was a Russian journalist, dissident, human rights activist and political prisoner. Early career Born in the city of ...

, worked on the Soviet program of interplanetary exploration of Mars

M

Benjamin Markarian Benjamin "Benik" Egishevitch Markarian ( hy, Բենիամին Եղիշեի Մարգարյան) was an Armenian astrophysicist. Markarian's Chain is a group of galaxies which was named after him when he discovered that its members move with a com ...

, discovered

Markarian's Chain Markarian's Chain is a stretch of galaxies that forms part of the Virgo Cluster. When viewed from Earth, the galaxies lie along a smoothly curved line. Charles Messier first discovered two of the galaxies, M84 and M86, in 1781. The other galaxi ...

Dmitri Dmitrievich Maksutov Dmitry Dmitrievich Maksutov (russian: Дми́трий Дми́триевич Максу́тов) ( – 12 August 1964) was a Russian / Soviet optical engineer and amateur astronomer. He is best known as the inventor of the Maksutov telescope. ...

, inventor of the

Maksutov telescope The Maksutov (also called a "Mak") is a catadioptric telescope design that combines a spherical mirror with a weakly negative meniscus lens in a design that takes advantage of all the surfaces being nearly "spherically symmetrical". The negative ...

* Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Mikhailov, credited with leading the post-war revival of the

Nikolay Moiseyev Nikolay Dmitriyevich Moiseyev (russian: Никола́й Дми́триевич Моисе́ев; December 3(16), 1902 in Perm – December 6, 1955 in Moscow) was a Soviet astronomer and expert in celestial mechanics. In 1938, he b ...

, expert in

, worked on mathematical methods of celestial calculations and theory of comet formation

N

Grigory Neujmin Grigory Nikolayevich Neujmin (russian: Григорий Николаевич Неуймин; – 17 December 1946) was a Georgian–Russian astronomer, native of Tbilisi in Georgia, and a discoverer of numerous minor planets as well as 6 periodi ...

, discovered 74 asteroids, and most notably

951 Gaspra 951 Gaspra is an S-type asteroid that orbits very close to the inner edge of the asteroid belt. Gaspra was discovered by Russian astronomer G. N. Neujmin in 1916. Neujmin named it after Gaspra, a Black Sea retreat that was visited by his contemp ...

and 762 Pulcova *

Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov (russian: И́горь Дми́триевич Но́виков; born November 10, 1935) is a Russian (and former Soviet) theoretical astrophysicist and cosmologist. Novikov put forward the idea of white holes in 1964 ...

, formulated the

Novikov self-consistency principle The Novikov self-consistency principle, also known as the Novikov self-consistency conjecture and Larry Niven's law of conservation of history, is a principle developed by Russian physicist Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov in the mid-1980s. Novikov int ...

, an important contribution to the theory of

time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...

Boris Numerov Boris Vasilyevich Numerov (russian: Борис Васильевич Нумеров; January 29, 1891—September 13, 1941) was a Russian astronomer, land-surveyor and geophysicist. Born in Veliky Novgorod, Novgorod and graduated from the Saint Pe ...

, created various astronomic and mineralogical instruments, as well as various algorithms and methods that bear his name

P

Pavel Petrovich Parenago Pavel Petrovich Parenago (20 March 1906 – 5 January 1960) was a Soviet scientist, astronomer, and professor. He served as the head of the Department of Stellar Astronomy at M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University and a Corresponding Member of th ...

, known for contributions to the field of

galactic astronomy Galactic astronomy is the study of the Milky Way galaxy and all its contents. This is in contrast to extragalactic astronomy, which is the study of everything outside our galaxy, including all other galaxies. Galactic astronomy should not be co ...

Yevgeny Perepyolkin Yevgeny Yakovlevich Perepyolkin (russian: Евге́ний Я́ковлевич Перепёлкин; 4 March 1906 – 13 January 1938)Solomon Pikelner, made a significant contribution to the theory of the interstellar medium, solar plasma physics, stellar atmospheres, and magnetohydrodynamics *

Elena V. Pitjeva __NOTOC__ Elena Vladimirovna Pitjeva (Елена Владимировна Питьева) is a Russian astronomer working at the Institute of Applied Astronomy, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg. She has published over 100 articles, as li ...

, expert in the field of Solar System dynamics and celestial mechanics

S

* Viktor Safronov, astronomer and cosmologist, author of the

planetesimal Planetesimals are solid objects thought to exist in protoplanetary disks and debris disks. Per the Chamberlin–Moulton planetesimal hypothesis, they are believed to form out of cosmic dust grains. Believed to have formed in the Solar System a ...

hypothesis of

planet formation The nebular hypothesis is the most widely accepted model in the field of cosmogony to explain the formation and evolution of the Solar System (as well as other planetary systems). It suggests the Solar System is formed from gas and dust orbitin ...

Kaspar Gottfried Schweizer Kaspar Gottfried Schweizer (16 February 1816 – 6 July 1873) was a Swiss astronomer who travelled to Moscow in 1845 to become Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy at the Survey Institute, and later director of the Moscow University Observato ...

, discovered five comets, and found one NGC object * Andrei Severny, known for his work on

solar flares A solar flare is an intense localized eruption of electromagnetic radiation in the Sun's atmosphere. Flares occur in active regions and are often, but not always, accompanied by coronal mass ejections, solar particle events, and other solar phe ...

and astronomical observations from artificial satellites *

Nikolai Shakura Nikolai Ivanovich Shakura (Николай Иванович Шакура; born October 7, 1945 in Belarus SSR) is a Russian Astrophysics, astrophysicist. He is the head of the relativistic astrophysics department at the Sternberg Astronomical Inst ...

, developed theory of accretion and astrophysics of

x-ray binaries X-ray binaries are a class of binary stars that are luminous in X-rays. The X-rays are produced by matter falling from one component, called the ''donor'' (usually a relatively normal star), to the other component, called the ''accretor'', which ...

, co-developed the standard theory of disk accretion * Grigory Shayn, astronomer and astrophysicist, the first director of the

Crimean Astrophysical Observatory The Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (CrAO, List of observatory codes, obs. code: IAU code#095, 095) is located at Nauchnij research campus, near the Central Crimean city of Bakhchysarai, on the Crimean peninsula. CrAO is often called ...

, co-developed a method for measurement of

stellar rotation Stellar rotation is the angular motion of a star about its axis. The rate of rotation can be measured from the spectrum of the star, or by timing the movements of active features on the surface. The rotation of a star produces an equatorial bulge ...

* Vladislav Shevchenko, astronomer, specialized in lunar exploration *

Iosif Shklovsky Iosif Samuilovich Shklovsky (russian: Ио́сиф Самуи́лович Шкло́вский; sometimes transliterated ''Josif, Josif, Shklovskii, Shklovskij'') (1 July 1916 – 3 March 1985) was a Soviet astronomer and astrophysicist. He ...

, astronomer and astrophysicist, author of several discoveries in the fields of

radio astronomy Radio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies celestial objects at radio frequencies. The first detection of radio waves from an astronomical object was in 1933, when Karl Jansky at Bell Telephone Laboratories reported radiation coming f ...

and

cosmic rays Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our own ...

extraterrestrial life Extraterrestrial life, colloquially referred to as alien life, is life that may occur outside Earth and which did not originate on Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been conclusively detected, although efforts are underway. Such life might ...

researcher *

Tamara Mikhaylovna Smirnova Tamara Mikhaylovna Smirnova (russian: Тама́ра Миха́йловна Смирно́ва; 1935–2001) was a Soviet/Russian astronomer and a discoverer of minor planets and comets. Career From 1966 to 1988, Smirnova was a staff member of t ...

, co-discovered the periodic comet 74P/Smirnova-Chernykh, along with Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh; discovered various asteroids; the asteroid 5540 Smirnova was named in her honor *

Friedrich Wilhelm Struve Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve (russian: link=no, Василий Яковлевич Струве, trans. ''Vasily Yakovlevich Struve''; 15 April 1793 – ) was a Baltic German astronomer and geodesist from the famous Struve family. He is best ...

, astronomer and geodesist, founder and the first director of the

, prominent researcher and discoverer of new

double stars In observational astronomy, a double star or visual double is a pair of stars that appear close to each other as viewed from Earth, especially with the aid of optical telescopes. This occurs because the pair either forms a binary star (i.e. a bi ...

, initiated the construction of 2,820 km long

Struve Geodetic Arc The Struve Geodetic Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through ten countries and over , which yielded the first accurate measurement of a meridian arc. The chain was established ...

, progenitor of the

Struve family The Struve family (pronounced in German, in Russian) were a Baltic German noble family of Eastphalian origin and originated in Magdeburg, the family produced five generations of astronomers from the 18th to 20th centuries. Members of the family ...

of astronomers *

Otto Lyudvigovich Struve Otto Struve (August 12, 1897 – April 6, 1963) was a Russian-American astronomer of Baltic German origins. In Russian, his name is sometimes given as Otto Lyudvigovich Struve (Отто Людвигович Струве); however, he spent most o ...

, astronomer and astrophysicist, co-developed a method for measurement of

, directed several observatories in the U.S. PGRS 2 081 Struve - crop

Otto Wilhelm von Struve Otto Wilhelm von Struve (May 7, 1819 (Julian calendar: April 25) – April 14, 1905) was a Russian astronomer of Baltic German origins. In Russian, his name is normally given as Otto Vasil'evich Struve (Отто Васильевич Струве ...

, astronomer, director of the

, discovered over 500

Rashid Sunyaev Rashid Alievich Sunyaev ( tt-Cyrl, Рәшит Гали улы Сөнәев, russian: Раши́д Али́евич Сюня́ев; born 1 March 1943 in Tashkent, USSR) is a Germany, German, Soviet Union, Soviet, and Russia, Russian astrophysicist ...

, astrophysicist, co-predicted the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect of CMB distortion

T

* Gavriil Tikhov, invented the feathering spectrograph; one of the first to use color filters to increase the contrast of surface details on planets

V

George Volkoff George Michael Volkoff, (February 23, 1914 – April 24, 2000) was a Russian-Canadian physicist and academic who helped, with J. Robert Oppenheimer, predict the existence of neutron stars before they were discovered. Early life He was born ...

, predicted the existence of

neutron stars A neutron star is the collapsed core of a massive supergiant star, which had a total mass of between 10 and 25 solar masses, possibly more if the star was especially metal-rich. Except for black holes and some hypothetical objects (e.g. white ...

Boris Vorontsov-Velyaminov Boris Aleksandrovich Vorontsov-Velyaminov (russian: Борис Александрович Воронцов-Вельяминов; February 14, 1904 – January 27, 1994) was a Russian astrophysicist. His name is sometimes given as Vorontsov-Ve ...

, discovered the absorption of light by

interstellar dust Cosmic dust, also called extraterrestrial dust, star dust or space dust, is dust which exists in outer space, or has fallen on Earth. Most cosmic dust particles measure between a few molecules and 0.1 mm (100 micrometers). Larger particles are c ...

, author of the ''

Morphological Catalogue of Galaxies The Morphological Catalogue of Galaxies (MCG) or Morfologiceskij Katalog Galaktik, is a Russian catalogue of 30,642 galaxies compiled by Boris Vorontsov-Velyaminov and V. P. Arkhipova. It is based on scrutiny of prints of the Palomar Sky Survey ...

'' * Alexander Vyssotsky, created first list of nearby stars identified not by their motions in the sky, but by their intrinsic, spectroscopic, characteristics

Y

Avenir Aleksandrovich Yakovkin Avenir Aleksandrovich Yakovkin (Авенир Александрович Яковкин) (1887–1974) was a Russian astronomer. From 1928 to 1931 he served as director of the V. P. Engel'gardt Astronomical Observatory at Kazan University. Th ...

, astronomer * Ivan Yarkovsky, discovered the YORP and

Yarkovsky effect The Yarkovsky effect is a force acting on a rotating body in space caused by the anisotropic emission of thermal photons, which carry momentum. It is usually considered in relation to meteoroids or small asteroids (about 10 cm to 10 km i ...

s of

meteoroid A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as micr ...

s or asteroids

Z

* Aleksandr Zaitsev, coined the term ''

Messaging to Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence Active SETI (Active Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) is the attempt to send messages to intelligent extraterrestrial life. Active SETI messages are predominantly sent in the form of radio signals. Physical messages like that of the P ...

'', conducted the first intercontinental

radar astronomy Radar astronomy is a technique of observing nearby astronomical objects by reflecting radio waves or microwaves off target objects and analyzing their reflections. Radar astronomy differs from ''radio astronomy'' in that the latter is a passive o ...

experiment, transmitted the

Cosmic Call Cosmic commonly refers to: * The cosmos, a concept of the universe Cosmic may also refer to: Media * ''Cosmic'' (album), an album by Bazzi * Afro/Cosmic music * "Cosmic", a song by Kylie Minogue from the album '' X'' * CosM.i.C, a member of ...

s and

Teen Age Message The Teen Age Message (TAM) was a series of interstellar radio transmissions sent from the Yevpatoria Planetary Radar to six solar-type stars during August–September 2001. The structure of the TAM was suggested by Alexander Zaitsev, Chief Sci ...

* Yakov Zel'dovich, physicist, astrophysicist and cosmologist, the first to suggest that

accretion disc An accretion disk is a structure (often a circumstellar disk) formed by diffuse material in orbital motion around a massive central body. The central body is typically a star. Friction, uneven irradiance, magnetohydrodynamic effects, and other f ...

s around massive

black hole A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravitation, gravity is so strong that nothing, including light or other Electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic waves, has enough energy to escape it. The theory of general relativity predicts t ...

s are responsible for the

quasar A quasar is an extremely Luminosity, luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN). It is pronounced , and sometimes known as a quasi-stellar object, abbreviated QSO. This emission from a galaxy nucleus is powered by a supermassive black hole with a m ...

radiation, co-predicted the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect of CMB distortion Sunyaev

* Abram Leonidovich Zelmanov, astronomer *

Sergei Alexandrovich Zhevakin Sergei Alexandrovich Zhevakin (russian: Серге́й Александрович Жевакин) (April 11, 1916 – February 21, 2001) was a Russian astronomer. Zhevakin is credited for identifying ionized helium as the valve for the heat engi ...

, identified ionized helium as the valve for the heat engine that drives the pulsation of

Cepheid variable A Cepheid variable () is a type of star that pulsates radially, varying in both diameter and temperature and producing changes in brightness with a well-defined stable period and amplitude. A strong direct relationship between a Cepheid varia ...

stars *

Lyudmila Zhuravlyova Lyudmila Vasilyevna Zhuravleva (russian: Людмила Васильевна Журавлёва, uk, Людмила Василівна Журавльова, Ljudmyla Vasylivna Žuravljova; born 22 May 1946) is a Soviet, Russian and Ukrainian ast ...

, discovered a number of asteroids; ranked 43rd by Harvard University's list of those who discovered minor planets; credited with having discovered 200 such bodies * Felix Ziegel, author of more than 40 popular books on astronomy and space exploration, generally regarded as a founder of Russian

ufology Ufology ( ) is the investigation of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) by people who believe that they may be of extraordinary origins (most frequently of extraterrestrial alien visitors). While there are instances of government, private, and f ...

Alphabetical list

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D

E

F

G

I

J

K

L

M

N

P

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T

V

Y

Z

See also