Gavriil Adrianovich Tikhov (1 May 1875 – 25 January 1960) was a Soviet

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 ...

who was a pioneer in

astrobiology Astrobiology, and the related field of exobiology, is an interdisciplinary scientific field that studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. Astrobiology is the multidisciplinary field that investig ...

and is considered to be the father of

astrobotany Astrobotany is an applied sub-discipline of botany that is the study of plants in space environments. It is a branch of astrobiology and botany. It has been a subject of study that plants may be grown in outer space typically in a weightless but ...

. He worked as an observer at the

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

from 1906 until 1941. After undertaking an expedition to Alma-Ata to observe the

solar eclipse of September 21, 1941 A total solar eclipse occurred on September 21, 1941. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon ...

, he remained and became one of the founders of the Kamenskoe Plateau Observatory, the Fesenkov Astrophysical Institute, and the

Kazakhstan Academy of Sciences Kazakhstan Academy of Sciences (official name National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan) is the highest scientific organization of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Academy of Sciences was founded on 1 June 1946 on the basis of the ...

. G. A. Tikhov was born in Smolevichy, near

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

, in the family of a railway employee, the family often moved from place to place. He began to study at the gymnasium of

Pavlodar Pavlodar ( ; ) is a city in northeastern Kazakhstan and the capital of Pavlodar Region. It is located 450 km northeast of the national capital Astana and 405 km southeast of the Russian city of Omsk along the Irtysh River. , the cit ...

, and completed secondary education at the Simferopol gymnasium. Living in

Simferopol Simferopol () is the second-largest city in the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, ...

, he once saw two bright stars in the clear evening sky. He learned from the teacher of the Simferopol gymnasium that these stars are the planet

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

and the star

Sirius Sirius is the list of brightest stars, brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Ancient Greek language, Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinisation ...

. At the Simferopol Public Library, he read two astronomical books. "I read these books with exciting interest, and my fate was decided. In the spring of 1892 I will never forget - then I irrevocably decided to become an astronomer," he writes in his memoir, ''60 Years Near the Telescope''. At the gymnasium observatory, he first looked through a telescope.G. A. Tikhov. "60 Years Near the Telescope":Venus and Sirius
/ref> Tikhov invented the feathering

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 ...

by using the commonly occurring

chromatic aberration In optics, chromatic aberration (CA), also called chromatic distortion and spherochromatism, is a failure of a lens to focus all colors to the same point. It is caused by dispersion: the refractive index of the lens elements varies with the wave ...

to his advantage. By installing a ring-shaped diaphragm in front of the objective he enabled an observer to deduce the color and

spectral class In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a prism or diffraction grating into a spectrum exhibiting the ...

of a

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

very easily. He was one of the first to use color filters to increase the contrast of surface details on

planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...

s. He was appointed head of

in Alma-Ata, and investigated the possibility of life on other bodies in the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...

. The crater Tikhov crater on 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 ...

, the Martian crater Tikhov, and the asteroid

2251 Tikhov 51 may refer to: * 51 (number) * The year ** 51 BC ** AD 51 ** 1951 ** 2051 * ''51'' (film), a 2011 American horror film directed by Jason Connery * "Fifty-One "Fifty-One" is the fourth episode of the fifth season of the American television crim ...

are named in his honor.

In popular culture

*In the episode 5, season 3 of '' Star Trek: Discovery'' 'Die Trying', a botanical repository starship is named ''Tikhov''.

References

External links

Biography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tikhov, Gavriil Adrianovich 1875 births 1960 deaths Belarusian astronomers Belarusian inventors Russian astronomers Soviet astronomers Russian inventors Corresponding Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences