Kārlis Šteins (October 13, 1911 – April 4, 1983) was a

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n and

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the 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 ...

and populariser of this science.

Biography

Šteins was born on October 13, 1911 in

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. In 1925 he finished the Riga 2nd Secondary school. In 1929 he started the studies in

University of Latvia University of Latvia (, shortened ''LU'') is a public research university located in Riga, Latvia. The university was established in 1919. History The University of Latvia, initially named as the Higher School of Latvia () was founded on Se ...

, the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science. In 1934 he graduated from the University of Latvia. In 1933 he was practicing in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, at Kraków Astronomical Observatory under supervision of Tadeusz Banachiewicz, and continued there until 1936. In 1933 he calculated the orbit of

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

1933 OP, discovered by

Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth (4 April 1892 in Heidelberg – 6 May 1979 in Heidelberg) was a German astronomer and a prolific discoverer of 395 minor planets. Scientific career From 1912 to 1957, Reinmuth was working as an astronomer at the Heid ...

, and named it

1284 Latvia 1284 Latvia, provisional designation , is a rare-type asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 37 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 27 July 1933, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory ...

; this is the first

minor planet According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor ...

to bear a Latvia-related name. After 1951 he worked at the University of Latvia as professor at the department of Theoretical Physics. He became an associate professor (docent) in 1956, and professor in 1966. He became a member of the

IAU The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

in 1958, and of the Astronomy council of the USSR Academy of Science in 1967. Karlis Steins enriched astronomy with his research in cosmogony, celestial mechanics, and problems of precise time. He had over 120 publications. He obtained his Ph.D. at

Pulkovo Observatory The Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory (), officially named the Central Astronomical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences at Pulkovo, is the principal astronomical observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It is located 19 km south ...

in 1963 by defending his thesis on the evolution of comet orbits. Asteroid

2867 Šteins 2867 Šteins (provisional designation ) is an irregular, diamond-shaped background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 4 November 1969 by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Chernykh at t ...

discovered in 1969 by

astronomer

Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh ( rus, Никола́й Степа́нович Черны́х, , nʲɪkɐˈlaj sʲtʲɪˈpanəvʲɪtɕ tɕɪrˈnɨx, links=yes; 6 October 1931 – 25 May 2004Казакова, Р.К. Памяти Николая Сте ...

, and imaged by the Rosetta spacecraft in 2008, is named in honor of Šteins.Karl Avgustovich Šteins
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References

1911 births 1983 deaths Scientists from Kazan 20th-century Latvian scientists Latvian astronomers Soviet astronomers University of Latvia alumni Academic staff of the University of Latvia {{Latvia-scientist-stub