Irina Belskaya (born 1958) is a Ukrainian astronomer, specialist in

spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Spectro ...

and

polarimetry Polarimetry is the measurement and interpretation of the polarization of transverse waves, most notably electromagnetic waves, such as radio or light waves. Typically polarimetry is done on electromagnetic waves that have traveled through or ha ...

Small Solar System bodies A small Solar System body (SSSB) is an object in the Solar System that is neither a planet, a dwarf planet, nor a natural satellite. The term was first IAU definition of planet, defined in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) as fo ...

, head of the Department of Physics of Asteroids and Comets of the Institute of Astronomy of Kharkiv National University,Department of Physics of Asteroids and Comets
Institute of Astronomy of Kharkiv National University recipient of the

State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technology State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

(2010).Указ Президента України № 594/2011 Про присудження Державних премій України в галузі науки і техніки 2010 року
Президент України. Офіційне інтернет-представництво

Biography

Irina Belskaya was born on November 14, 1958, in

Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna (), is an oblast (province) in eastern Ukraine. Kharkiv borders Luhansk Oblast to the east, Donetsk Oblast to the southeast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to the southwest, Poltava Oblast to the w ...

. In 1975, she graduated from a specialized physics and mathematics school with a gold medal and entered the Astronomy Department of

Kharkiv University The V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (), also known as Kharkiv National University or Karazin University, is a public university in Kharkiv, Ukraine. It was founded in 1804 through the efforts of Vasily Karazin, becoming the second old ...

. In 1980, she graduated from the university with honors and began working at the Kharkiv Observatory. In 1987, she defended her PhD thesis "Photometry and polarimetry of

M-type asteroid M-type (metallic-type, aka M-class) asteroids are a spectral class of asteroids which appear to contain higher concentrations of metal phases (e.g. iron-nickel) than other asteroid classes, and are widely thought to be the source of iron meteorit ...

s". She worked at the Uppsala Observatory (

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, 1992-1993) and

Paris Observatory The Paris Observatory (, ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world. Its historic building is on the Left Ban ...

(

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, 2002-2004).Бакіров В. С. (ред.). Бельська Ірина Миколаївна // Професори Харківського національного університету імені В. Н. Каразіна. Біобібліографічний довідник. — Харків : ХНУ ім. В. Н. Каразіна, 2009. — С. 34. — 700 прим. She received grants from the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

(1992), DAAD (2000), the

European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...

(2003), the

International Space Science Institute The International Space Science Institute (ISSI) is an Institute of Advanced Studies based in Bern, Switzerland. The institute's work is interdisciplinary, focusing on the study of the Solar System, and encompasses planetary sciences, astrophysics ...

(2008), scholarship from the

Swedish Institute The Swedish Institute (, ) is a government agency in Sweden with the responsibility to spread information about Sweden outside the country. It exists to promote Swedish interests, and to organise exchanges with other countries in different ar ...

(1992), and the Marie Curie International Scholarship (2009).Irina Belskaya
Institute of Astronomy of Kharkiv National University In 2008, she defended her

Sc.D. A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

dissertation "Optical properties of surfaces of asteroids,

centaurs A centaur ( ; ; ), occasionally hippocentaur, also called Ixionidae (), is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse that was said to live in the mountains of Thessaly. In one version o ...

, and

Kuiper belt The Kuiper belt ( ) is a circumstellar disc in the outer Solar System, extending from the orbit of Neptune at 30 astronomical units (AU) to approximately 50 AU from the Sun. It is similar to the asteroid belt, but is far larger—20 times ...

bodies". In 2010, she received the

for the collective work "Advancement of theoretical foundation, development and application of polarimetric techniques and instrumentation for remote sensing studies of Solar System objects by ground-based, aircraft, and spacecraft means".

Honours and awards

(2010) * Award of the International Academy of Astronautics for the best basic scientific book (2009) * The asteroid 8786 Belskaya is named after the scientist8786 Belskaya (1978 RA8)
JPL Small-Body Database Browser

References

Sources

* Бакіров В. С. (ред.). Бельська Ірина Миколаївна // Професори Харківського національного університету імені В. Н. Каразіна. Біобібліографічний довідник. — Харків : ХНУ ім. В. Н. Каразіна, 2009. — С. 34. — 700 прим.
Irina Belskaya
Institute of Astronomy of Kharkiv National University
Belskaya, Irina N.
in

Scopus Scopus is a scientific abstract and citation database, launched by the academic publisher Elsevier as a competitor to older Web of Science in 2004. The ensuing competition between the two databases has been characterized as "intense" and is c ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Belskaya, Irina 1958 births Ukrainian astronomers Ukrainian women scientists National University of Kharkiv alumni Living people Academic staff of Kharkiv Observatory