Klim Churyumov | |
|---|---|
Клим Чурюмов | |
 Churyumov in 2014 | |
| Born | Klim Ivanovich Churyumov (1937-02-19)19 February 1937 |
| Died | 14 October 2016(2016-10-14) (aged 79) Kharkiv, Ukraine |
| Citizenship | Soviet Union → Ukraine |
| Alma mater | Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv |
| Known for | research in physics of comets and thecosmogony of theSolar System, discovery of twocomets. |
| Awards | Order of Merit |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy |
Klim Ivanovich Churyumov (Ukrainian:Клим Іванович Чурюмов; 19 February 1937 – 14 October 2016) was a Soviet and Ukrainianastronomer.[1]
He was the director of theKyiv Planetarium, a member of theNational Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and theInternational Astronomical Union,[2] of theNew York Academy of Sciences, the editor of the magazineOur Skies (Ukrainian:Наше Небо) in 2006–2009, the president of the Ukrainian Society of amateur astronomy and the author of books for children.
In 1969, he discovered, withSvetlana Gerasimenko, the comet67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko; on 12 November 2014, theRosetta[3] space mission landed itsPhilae spacecraft on its surface.
He was the fourth of eight children of Ivan Ivanovich Churyumov and Antonina Mikhailovna Churyumova (b. 1907). His father wasdeclared dead duringWorld War II in 1942.[4]
In 1949 Churyumov's family moved fromNikolayev toKyiv. After seventh grade, he entered the Kyiv Railway College, graduating with honors in 1955. He received a recommendation for admission to higher education.
He entered the Physics Department ofKyiv State University. During his third year of study, he was disappointed to be assigned to the faculty of optics, instead of theoretical physics. However, he continued to attend lectures on theoretical physics, even though the authorities disapproved, and he was eventually moved to the faculty of astronomy, where there were vacant places.[3]
After his graduation in 1960, he was sent to the polar geophysical station atTiksi Bay in theYakut ASSR. There he studied theaurora,earth currents andionosphere.
In 1962, he returned to Kyiv and went to work at the plant"Arsenal", where he participated in the development of optical components for the Soviet military and space programs.[5]
After finishing postgraduate studies at Kyiv State University (specialty "astrophysics", under supervision of professorSergej Vsekhsvyatskij), he continued working as Fellow at the Department of Astronomy at university.
As part of his work he observed the comets at the astronomical observatory of Kyiv University in the villageLisniki (inKyiv Oblast) as well during astronomical expeditions in the highlands of Central Asia, theCaucasus,Siberia, thePrimorsky Krai, inChukotka andKamchatka.
In 1969 the University equipped an expedition of three people, including Churyumov andSvetlana Gerasimenko, for surveillance of periodic comets inAlma-Ata astrophysical observatory, part of what is now theFesenkov Astrophysical Institute.
In 1972 he defended hisfirst post-graduate scientific degree with thesis "Studies of cometsIkeya-Seki (1967n),Honda (1968c),Tago-Sato-Kosaka (1969g) and new periodic comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko from photographic observations."[6]
In 1993 he defended his doctoral thesis on "Evolutionary physical processes in comets" at theInstitute of Space Research, RAS (Moscow).
Beginning in 1998 Churyumov was a professor atTaras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
In January 2004 he was appointed as director of the educational centerKyiv Planetarium.
Churyumov died in the night of 13–14 October 2016 in hospital inKharkiv.[7]
Awards
Named after him
Я завжди повторюю, що я українець. Для мене це принципове питання. ... Мені дуже образливо, коли мене називають російським чи радянським ученим. [I always repeat that I am Ukrainian. For me, this is a matter of principle. ... I am very offended when they call me a Russian or Soviet scientist.]
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