
This list of
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n
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 ...
s and
astrophysicists includes the famous astronomers, astrophysicists and
cosmologists from the
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 ...
, the
Soviet Union
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 ...
and the
Russian Federation
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
.
Alphabetical list
__NOTOC__
A
*
Tateos Agekian, one of the pioneers of Russian and world
Stellar dynamics
Stellar dynamics is the branch of astrophysics which describes in a statistical way the collective motions of stars subject to their mutual gravity. The essential difference from celestial mechanics is that the number of body N \gg 10.
Typic ...
, discoverer of two evolutionary sequences of stellar systems: nearly spherical and strongly flattened
*
Vladimir Albitsky, discovered a significant number of asteroids
*
Viktor Ambartsumian
Viktor Amazaspovich Ambartsumian (; , ''Viktor Hamazaspi Hambardzumyan''; 12 August 1996) was a Soviet and Armenian astrophysicist and science administrator. One of the 20th century's leading astronomers, he is widely regarded as the founder of ...
, one of the founders of
theoretical astrophysics, discoverer of
stellar associations
A stellar association is a very loose star cluster, looser than both open clusters and globular clusters. Stellar associations will normally contain from 10 to 100 or more visible stars. An association is primarily identified by commonalities in i ...
, founder of
Byurakan Observatory in
Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
*
Andrejs Auzāns, director of the
Tashkent observatory, 1911–1916
B
*
Nikolai P. Barabashov, co-author of the ground breaking publication of the first pictures of the far side of the Moon in 1961, called ''Atlas of the Other Side of the Moon''; a crater and a planet were named after him
*
Vladimir Belinski, an author of the
BKL singularity model of the Universe evolution
*
Igor Belkovich, made contributions to astronomy; the crater Bel'kovich on the Moon is named after him
*
Aristarkh Belopolsky, invented a
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 ...
based on the
Doppler effect
The Doppler effect (also Doppler shift) is the change in the frequency of a wave in relation to an observer who is moving relative to the source of the wave. The ''Doppler effect'' is named after the physicist Christian Doppler, who described ...
, among the first photographers of
stellar spectra
*
Sergey Belyavsky, discovered the bright naked-eye comet C/1911 S3 (Beljawsky); discovered and co-discovered a number of asteroids
*
Gennady S. Bisnovatyi-Kogan, first determined the maximum mass of a hot neutron star
*
Sergey Blazhko, discovered a secondary variation of the amplitude and period of some RR Lyrae stars and related pulsating variables, now known as the Blazhko effect
*
Semion Braude, co-developed large-scale radio interferometers for precise examination of extraterrestrial radio sources
*
Fyodor Bredikhin, developed the theory of
comet
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...
tails,
meteor
A meteor, known colloquially as a shooting star, is a glowing streak of a small body (usually meteoroid) going through Earth's atmosphere, after being heated to incandescence by collisions with air molecules in the upper atmosphere,
creating a ...
s and
meteor shower
A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate, or originate, from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at ext ...
s, a director of the
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 ...
*
Matvei Petrovich Bronstein
Matvei Petrovich Bronstein (, – February 18, 1938) was a Soviet theoretical physicist, a pioneer of quantum gravity, author of works in astrophysics, semiconductors, quantum electrodynamics and cosmology, as well as of a number of books in pop ...
, theoretical physicist; pioneer of quantum gravity; author of works in astrophysics, semiconductors, quantum electrodynamics and cosmology
*
Jacob Bruce, statesman, naturalist and astronomer, founder of the first
observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed.
Th ...
in Russia (in the
Sukharev Tower)
C
*
Lyudmila Chernykh
Lyudmila Ivanivna Chernykh (; ; June 13, 1935 – July 28, 2017) was a Ukrainian- Russian-Soviet astronomer, wife and colleague of Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh, and a prolific discoverer of minor planets.
Professional career
Chernykh was bo ...
, astronomer, discovered 268
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 ...
s
*
Nikolai Chernykh
Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh ( rus, Никола́й Степа́нович Черны́х, , nʲɪkɐˈlaj sʲtʲɪˈpanəvʲɪtɕ tɕɪrˈnɨx, links=yes; 6 October 1931 – 25 May 2004Казакова, Р.К. Памяти Николая Сте ...
, astronomer, discovered 537 asteroids and two comets
*
Aleksandr Chudakov, co-discoverer of the Earth's
radiation belt
D
*
Denis Denisenko, astronomer, author of more than 25 scientific articles and a presenter at five international conferences
*
A. G. Doroshkevich, along with Igor Novikov, discovered cosmic microwave background radiation as a detectable phenomenon
*
Alexander Dubyago, expert in theoretical astrophysics; the lunar crater Dubyago is named after him and his father,
Dmitry Ivanovich Dubyago
*
Dmitry Dubyago, expert in theoretical astrophysics, astrometry, and gravimetry; a crater on the Moon is named after him and his son
E
*
Vasily Engelhardt, researched comets, asteroids, nebulae, and star clusters, in an observatory he built himself
F
*
Vasily Fesenkov, founded the Alma-Ata (now
Tien Shan
The Tian Shan, also known as the Tengri Tagh or Tengir-Too, meaning the "Mountains of God/Heaven", is a large system of mountain ranges in Central Asia. The highest peak is Jengish Chokusu at high and located in Kyrgyzstan. Its lowest point is ...
) astrophysical observatory, and was the first to make a study of Zodiacal light using photometry, and suggested a theory of its dynamics
*
Kirill Florensky, head of Comparative Planetology at the Vernadsky Institute of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences; the crater
Florensky on the Moon is named after him
*
Alexander Friedmann, mathematician and cosmologist, discovered the
expanding-universe solution
Solution may refer to:
* Solution (chemistry), a mixture where one substance is dissolved in another
* Solution (equation), in mathematics
** Numerical solution, in numerical analysis, approximate solutions within specified error bounds
* Solu ...
to the
general relativity
General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity, and as Einstein's theory of gravity, is the differential geometry, geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of grav ...
field equations
A classical field theory is a physical theory that predicts how one or more fields in physics interact with matter through field equations, without considering effects of quantization; theories that incorporate quantum mechanics are called qua ...
.; authored the
FLRW metric of
Universe
The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...
*
Alexei Fridman, predicted existence of smaller satellites around
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is a gaseous cyan-coloured ice giant. Most of the planet is made of water, ammonia, and methane in a Supercritical fluid, supercritical phase of matter, which astronomy calls "ice" or Volatile ( ...
G
*
George Gamow
George Gamow (sometimes Gammoff; born Georgiy Antonovich Gamov; ; 4 March 1904 – 19 August 1968) was a Soviet and American polymath, theoretical physicist and cosmologist. He was an early advocate and developer of Georges Lemaître's Big Ba ...
, theoretical physicist and cosmologist, discovered
alpha decay via quantum tunneling and
Gamow factor
The Gamow factor, Sommerfeld factor or Gamow–Sommerfeld factor,
named after physicists George Gamow or after Arnold Sommerfeld, is a probability factor for two nuclear particles' chance of overcoming the Coulomb barrier in order to undergo nucl ...
in
stellar nucleosynthesis
In astrophysics, stellar nucleosynthesis is the creation of chemical elements by nuclear fusion reactions within stars. Stellar nucleosynthesis has occurred since the original creation of hydrogen, helium and lithium during the Big Bang. As a ...
, introduced the
Big Bang nucleosynthesis
In physical cosmology, Big Bang nucleosynthesis (also known as primordial nucleosynthesis, and abbreviated as BBN) is a model for the production of light nuclei, deuterium, 3He, 4He, 7Li, between 0.01s and 200s in the lifetime of the universe ...
theory, predicted
cosmic microwave background
The cosmic microwave background (CMB, CMBR), or relic radiation, is microwave radiation that fills all space in the observable universe. With a standard optical telescope, the background space between stars and galaxies is almost completely dar ...
*
Vitaly Ginzburg, co-developed the theory of superconductivity, the theory of electromagnetic wave propagation in plasmas, and a theory of the origin of cosmic radiation
*
Sergey Glazenap, astronomer; a crater on the Moon and the minor planet
857 Glasenappia are named after him
*
Alexander A. Gurshtein, developed a concept of history of constellations and the zodiac
*
Matvey Gusev
Matvey Matveyevich Gusev () (, Vyatka, Russia–, Berlin, Germany) was a Russian astronomer who worked at Pulkovo Observatory near St. Petersburg from 1850 to 1852 and then at Vilnius Observatory.
In 1860 he founded the first scienti ...
, the first to prove the non-sphericity of 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 ...
, pioneer of photography in astronomy
I
*
Naum Idelson, astronomer
J
*
Benjamin Jekhowsky, discovered a number of asteroids; made more than 190 scientific publications; the asteroid
1606 Jekhovsky is named after him
K
*
Lyudmila Karachkina
Lyudmila Georgievna Karachkina (, born 3 September 1948, Rostov-on-Don) is an astronomer and discoverer of minor planets.
In 1978 she began as a staff astronomer of the Institute for Theoretical Astronomy (ITA) at Leningrad. Her research at the ...
, discovered a number of asteroids, including the Amor asteroid
5324 Lyapunov,
10031 Vladarnolda and the Trojan asteroid
3063 Makhaon
*
Nikolai Kardashev, astrophysicist, inventor of
Kardashev scale
The Kardashev scale () is a method of measuring a civilization's level of technology, technological advancement based on the amount of energy it is capable of harnessing and using. The measure was proposed by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev i ...
for ranking the space civilizations
*
Isaak Khalatnikov
Isaak Markovich Khalatnikov (, ; 17 October 1919 – 9 January 2021) was a leading Soviet theoretical physicist who made significant contributions to many areas of theoretical physics, including general relativity, quantum field theory, as well ...
, an author of the
BKL singularity model of the Universe evolution
*
Viktor Knorre, astronomer, discovered four asteroids
*
Marian Kowalski, first to measure the rotation of the
Milky Way
The Milky Way or Milky Way Galaxy is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the #Appearance, galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars in other arms of the galax ...
*
Nikolai Aleksandrovich Kozyrev, astronomer, observed the transient lunar phenomenon
*
Georgij A. Krasinsky, astronomer, researched planetary motions and ephemeris
*
Feodosy Krasovsky, astronomer and geodesist; measured the
Krasovsky ellipsoid, a coordinate system used in the
USSR
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 ...
and the post-Soviet states
*
Yevgeny Krinov, astronomer, renowned meteorite researcher; the mineral Krinovite, discovered in 1966, was named after him
L
*
Anders Johan Lexell
Anders Johan Lexell (24 December 1740 – ) was a Finnish-Swedish astronomer, mathematician, and physicist who spent most of his life in Imperial Russia, where he was known as Andrei Ivanovich Leksel (Андрей Иванович Лексе ...
, astronomer and mathematician; researcher of
celestial mechanics
Celestial mechanics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the motions of objects in outer space. Historically, celestial mechanics applies principles of physics (classical mechanics) to astronomical objects, such as stars and planets, to ...
and comet astronomy; proved that Uranus is a planet rather than a comet
*
Andrei Linde
Andrei Dmitriyevich Linde (; born March 2, 1948) is a Russian-American theoretical physicist and the Harald Trap Friis Professor of Physics at Stanford University.
Linde is one of the main authors of the inflationary universe theory, as well ...
, created the Universe
chaotic inflation theory
*
Evgeny Lifshitz
Evgeny Mikhailovich Lifshitz (; ; 21 February 1915 – 29 October 1985) was a leading Soviet physicist and brother of the physicist Ilya Lifshitz.
Work
Born into a Ukrainian Jewish family in Kharkov, Kharkov Governorate, Russian Empire (now K ...
, an author of the
BKL singularity model of the Universe evolution
*
Mikhail Lomonosov
Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (; , ; – ) was a Russian polymath, scientist and writer, who made important contributions to literature, education, and science. Among his discoveries were the atmosphere of Venus and the law of conservation of ...
polymath, inventor of the
off-axis reflecting telescope, discoverer of the
atmosphere of Venus
The atmosphere of Venus is the very dense layer of gases surrounding the planet Venus. Venus's atmosphere is composed of 96.5% carbon dioxide and 3.5% nitrogen, with other chemical compounds present only in trace amounts. It is much denser and ho ...
*
Mikhail Lyapunov, astronomer
*
Kronid Lyubarsky, worked on the Soviet program of interplanetary exploration of Mars
M
*
Benjamin Markarian, discovered
Markarian's Chain
*
Dmitri Dmitrievich Maksutov
Dmitry Dmitrievich Maksutov (; – 12 August 1964) was a Soviet Union, Soviet Optical engineering, optical engineer and amateur astronomer. He is best known as the inventor of the Maksutov telescope.
Biography
Dmitry Dmitriyevich Maksutov was b ...
, inventor of the
Maksutov telescope
*
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Mikhailov, credited with leading the post-war revival of the
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 ...
*
Nikolay Moiseyev, expert in
celestial mechanics
Celestial mechanics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the motions of objects in outer space. Historically, celestial mechanics applies principles of physics (classical mechanics) to astronomical objects, such as stars and planets, to ...
, worked on mathematical methods of celestial calculations and theory of comet formation
N
*
Grigory Neujmin
Grigory Nikolayevich Neujmin (; – 17 December 1946) was a Georgian–Russian astronomer, native of Tbilisi in Georgia (country), Georgia, and a discoverer of numerous minor planets as well as 6 periodic comet, periodic and a List of hyperbolic ...
, discovered 74 asteroids, and most notably
951 Gaspra
951 Gaspra is an S-type asteroid, S-type asteroid that orbits very close to the inner edge of the asteroid belt. Gaspra was discovered by Russian astronomer G. N. Neujmin in 1916. Neujmin named it after Gaspra, a Black Sea retreat that was visite ...
and
762 Pulcova
*
Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov, formulated the
Novikov self-consistency principle
The Novikov self-consistency principle, also known as the Novikov self-consistency conjecture and Larry Niven's law of conservation of history, is a principle developed by Russian physicist Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov in the mid-1980s. Novikov inte ...
, an important contribution to the theory of
time travel
Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known a ...
*
Boris Numerov, created various astronomic and mineralogical instruments, as well as various algorithms and methods that bear his name
P
*
Pavel Petrovich Parenago, known for contributions to the field of
galactic astronomy
Galactic astronomy is the study of the Milky Way galaxy and all its contents. This is in contrast to extragalactic astronomy, which is the study of everything outside our galaxy, including all other galaxies.
Galactic astronomy should not be con ...
*
Yevgeny Perepyolkin, observed the proper motion of stars with respect to extragalactic nebula
*
Solomon Pikelner, made a significant contribution to the theory of the interstellar medium, solar plasma physics, stellar atmospheres, and magnetohydrodynamics
*
Elena V. Pitjeva, expert in the field of Solar System dynamics and celestial mechanics
S
*
Viktor Safronov, astronomer and cosmologist, author of the
planetesimal
Planetesimals () are solid objects thought to exist in protoplanetary disks and debris disks. Believed to have formed in the Solar System about 4.6 billion years ago, they aid study of its formation.
Formation
A widely accepted theory of pla ...
hypothesis of
planet formation
*
Kaspar Gottfried Schweizer, discovered five comets, and found one NGC object
*
Andrei Severny, known for his work on
solar flares
A solar flare is a relatively intense, localized emission of electromagnetic radiation in the Stellar atmosphere, Sun's atmosphere. Flares occur in active regions and are often, but not always, accompanied by coronal mass ejections, solar partic ...
and astronomical observations from artificial satellites
*
Nikolai Shakura, developed theory of accretion and astrophysics of
x-ray binaries, co-developed the standard theory of
disk accretion
*
Grigory Shayn, astronomer and astrophysicist, the first director of the
Crimean Astrophysical Observatory
The Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (CrAO, obs. code: 095) is located at Nauchnij research campus, near the Central Crimean city of Bakhchysarai, on the Crimean peninsula. CrAO is often called simply by its location and campus name ...
, co-developed a method for measurement of
stellar rotation
Stellar rotation is the angular motion of a star about its axis. The rate of rotation can be measured from the spectrum of the star, or by timing the movements of active features on the surface.
The rotation of a star produces an equatorial bu ...
*
Inna Shcherbina-Samoylova, astronomer and astrophysicist, specialist in
information science, editor and translator
*
Vladislav Shevchenko, astronomer, specialized in lunar exploration
*
Iosif Shklovsky
Iosif Samuilovich Shklovsky (sometimes transliterated ''Josif, Josif, Shklovskii, Shklovskij''; ; 1 July 1916 – 3 March 1985) was a Soviet astronomer and astrophysicist. He is remembered for his work in theoretical astrophysics and other topi ...
, astronomer and astrophysicist, author of several discoveries in the fields of
radio astronomy
Radio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies Astronomical object, celestial objects using radio waves. It started in 1933, when Karl Jansky at Bell Telephone Laboratories reported radiation coming from the Milky Way. Subsequent observat ...
and
cosmic rays
Cosmic rays or astroparticles are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar ...
,
extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life, or alien life (colloquially, aliens), is life that originates from another world rather than on Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been scientifically conclusively detected. Such life might range from simple forms ...
researcher
*
Tamara Mikhaylovna Smirnova, co-discovered the periodic comet
74P/Smirnova-Chernykh, along with
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 ...
; discovered various asteroids; the asteroid
5540 Smirnova was named in her honor
*
Friedrich Wilhelm Struve, astronomer and geodesist, founder and the first director of the
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 ...
, prominent researcher and discoverer of new
double stars, initiated the construction of 2,820 km long
Struve Geodetic Arc
The Struve Geodetic Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through ten countries and over , which yielded the first accurate measurement of a meridian arc.
The chain was established ...
, progenitor of the
Struve family of astronomers
*
Otto Lyudvigovich Struve, astronomer and astrophysicist, co-developed a method for measurement of
stellar rotation
Stellar rotation is the angular motion of a star about its axis. The rate of rotation can be measured from the spectrum of the star, or by timing the movements of active features on the surface.
The rotation of a star produces an equatorial bu ...
, directed several observatories in the U.S.
*
Nadezhda Sytinskaya, planetary scientist known for co-developing the meteor slag theory of lunar surface regolith

*
Otto Wilhelm von Struve, astronomer, director of the
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 ...
, discovered over 500
double stars
*
Rashid Sunyaev
Rashid Alievich Sunyaev (, ; born 1 March 1943 in Tashkent, USSR) is a German, Soviet, and Russian astrophysicist of Tatar descent. He got his MS degree from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) in 1966. He became a professor ...
, astrophysicist, co-predicted the
Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect of CMB distortion
T
*
Gavriil Tikhov, invented the feathering spectrograph; one of the first to use color filters to increase the contrast of surface details on planets
V
*
George Volkoff, predicted the existence of
neutron stars
A neutron star is the gravitationally collapsed core of a massive supergiant star. It results from the supernova explosion of a massive star—combined with gravitational collapse—that compresses the core past white dwarf star density to th ...
*
Boris Vorontsov-Velyaminov
Boris Aleksandrovich Vorontsov-Velyaminov (; February 14, 1904 – January 27, 1994) was a Russian astrophysicist. His name is sometimes given as Vorontsov-Vel'yaminov.
He independently discovered the absorption of light by interstellar dus ...
, discovered the absorption of light by
interstellar dust
Cosmic dustalso called extraterrestrial dust, space dust, or star dustis dust that occurs in outer space or has fallen onto Earth. Most cosmic dust particles measure between a few molecules and , such as micrometeoroids (30 μm). Cosmic dust can ...
, author of the ''
Morphological Catalogue of Galaxies
The Morphological Catalogue of Galaxies (MCG) or Morfologiceskij Katalog Galaktik, is a Russian catalogue of 30,642 galaxies compiled by Boris Vorontsov-Velyaminov and V. P. Arkhipova. It is based on scrutiny of prints of the Palomar Sky Surv ...
''
*
Alexander Vyssotsky, created first list of nearby stars identified not by their motions in the sky, but by their intrinsic, spectroscopic, characteristics
Y
*
Avenir Aleksandrovich Yakovkin, astronomer
*
Ivan Yarkovsky, discovered the
YORP and
Yarkovsky effects of
meteoroid
A meteoroid ( ) is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space.
Meteoroids are distinguished as objects significantly smaller than ''asteroids'', ranging in size from grains to objects up to wide. Objects smaller than meteoroids are classifie ...
s or asteroids
*
Ivan Naumovich Yazev, astronomer and professor, worked at the
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 ...
and the
Mykolaiv Observatory and later headed the observatory at
Irkutsk State University from 1948 until 1955.
Z
*
Aleksandr Zaitsev, coined the term ''
Messaging to Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence'', conducted the first intercontinental
radar astronomy
Radar astronomy is a technique of observing nearby astronomical objects by reflecting radio waves or microwaves off target objects and analyzing their reflections. Radar astronomy differs from ''radio astronomy'' in that the latter is a passive ob ...
experiment, transmitted the
Cosmic Calls and
Teen Age Message
*
Yakov Zel'dovich, physicist, astrophysicist and cosmologist, the first to suggest that
accretion disc
An accretion disk is a structure (often a circumstellar disk) formed by diffuse material in orbital motion around a massive central body. The central body is most frequently a star. Friction, uneven irradiance, magnetohydrodynamic effects, and ...
s around massive
black hole
A black hole is a massive, compact astronomical object so dense that its gravity prevents anything from escaping, even light. Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will form a black hole. Th ...
s are responsible for the
quasar
A quasar ( ) is an extremely Luminosity, luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN). It is sometimes known as a quasi-stellar object, abbreviated QSO. The emission from an AGN is powered by accretion onto a supermassive black hole with a mass rangi ...
radiation, co-predicted the
Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect of CMB distortion

*
Abram Leonidovich Zelmanov, astronomer
*
Sergei Alexandrovich Zhevakin, identified ionized helium as the valve for the heat engine that drives the pulsation of
Cepheid variable
A Cepheid variable () is a type of variable star that pulsates radially, varying in both diameter and temperature. It changes in brightness, with a well-defined stable period (typically 1–100 days) and amplitude. Cepheids are important cosmi ...
stars
*
Lyudmila Zhuravlyova, discovered a number of asteroids; ranked 43rd by Harvard University's list of those who discovered minor planets; credited with having discovered 200 such bodies
*
Felix Ziegel, author of more than 40 popular books on astronomy and space exploration, generally regarded as a founder of Russian
ufology
Ufology, sometimes written UFOlogy ( or ), is the investigation of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) by people who believe that they may be of extraordinary claims, extraordinary origins (most frequently of extraterrestrial hypothesis, extrate ...
See also
*
List of astronomers
*
List of astrophysicists
*
List of Russian scientists
*
List of Russian inventors
This is a list of inventors from the Russian Federation, Soviet Union, Russian Empire, Tsardom of Russia and Grand Duchy of Moscow, including both ethnic Russians and people of other ethnicities.
This list also includes those who were born in ...
*
Science and technology in Russia
Science and technology in Russia have developed rapidly since the Age of Enlightenment, when Peter the Great founded the Russian Academy of Sciences and Saint Petersburg State University and polymath Mikhail Lomonosov founded the Moscow State Univ ...
*
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 ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Russian Astronomers And Astrophysicists
Astrophysicists
The following is a list of astronomers, astrophysics, astrophysicists and other notable people who have made contributions to the field of astronomy. They may have won major prizes or awards, developed or invented widely used techniques or techno ...
Astronomers
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, moons, comets and galaxies – in either observ ...
Russian
Russian(s) may refer to:
*Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*A citizen of Russia
*Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
*''The Russians'', a b ...
Astrophysics
Russian astronomers