Avenir Aleksandrovich Yakovkin
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Avenir Aleksandrovich Yakovkin (Авенир Александрович Яковкин; 1887–1974) was a Soviet
astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...
. He was born in Blagoveshchensk, Bashkortostan and graduated from the
Kazan University Kazan Federal University (; ) is a public research university located in Kazan, Russia. The university was founded in 1804 as Imperial Kazan University, which makes it the second oldest continuously existing tertiary education institution in Rus ...
in 1910. From 1928 to 1931 he served as director of the V. P. Engel'gardt Astronomical Observatory near Kazan. He ran the Astronomical Observatory of Kazan University from 1931 to 1937. He held a professorship at the Sverdlovsk University between 1937 and 1945, then at the
Kiev State University The Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (; also known as Kyiv University, Shevchenko University, or KNU) is a public university in Kyiv, Ukraine. The university is the third-oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and ...
between 1945 and 1951. Then he was put in charge of the Main Observatory of the
Academy of Sciences of Ukraine The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU; , ; ''NAN Ukrainy'') is a self-governing state-funded organization in Ukraine that is the main center of development of Science and technology in Ukraine, science and technology by coordinatin ...
and was elected its member. His main scientific works are devoted to studying the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
's rotation and its shape. From 1915 to 1931, a large series of observations were conducted using a
heliometer A heliometer (from Greek ἥλιος ''hḗlios'' "sun" and ''measure'') is an instrument originally designed for measuring the variation of the Sun's diameter at different seasons of the year, but applied now to the modern form of the instrumen ...
at the Engelhardt Observatory, the processing of which yielded the best values for the constants of the Moon's physical
libration In lunar astronomy, libration is the cyclic variation in the apparent position of the Moon that is perceived by observers on the Earth and caused by changes between the orbital and rotational planes of the moon. It causes an observer to see ...
. He discovered and investigated the asymmetry of the Moon's visible disk and its dependence on optical libration (the "Yakovkin effect"). He proposed and applied a new method of position angles to study the Moon's libration. Yakovkin authored several original astronomical instruments and devices. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, he designed a special astronomical
sextant A sextant is a doubly reflecting navigation instrument that measures the angular distance between two visible objects. The primary use of a sextant is to measure the angle between an astronomical object and the horizon for the purposes of cel ...
for aviation. The crater Yakovkin on the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
is named after him.


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biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yakovkin, Avenir Aleksandrovich Russian astronomers Soviet astronomers Kazan Federal University alumni 1887 births 1974 deaths