Viktor Sergeevich Safronov () (born Velikie Luki; 11 October 1917 in
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 ...
– 18 September 1999 in
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
, Russia) was a
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 ...
who put forward the low-mass-nebula model of planet formation, a consistent picture of how the
planets formed from a disk of gas and dust around the
Sun
The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...
.
Biography and legacy
Safronov graduated from
Moscow State University Department of Mechanics and Mathematics in 1941. He defended a dissertation for the Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences in 1968. His scientific interests covered planetary
cosmogony
Cosmogony is any model concerning the origin of the cosmos or the universe.
Overview
Scientific theories
In astronomy, cosmogony is the study of the origin of particular astrophysical objects or systems, and is most commonly used in ref ...
,
astrophysics
Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...
and
geophysics
Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and Physical property, properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct i ...
.
His
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 is still widely accepted among astronomers, although alternative theories exist (such as the gravitational fragmentation of the
protoplanetary disk
A protoplanetary disk is a rotating circumstellar disc of dense gas and dust surrounding a young newly formed star, a T Tauri star, or Herbig Ae/Be star. The protoplanetary disk may not be considered an accretion disk; while the two are sim ...
directly into planets).
A
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 ...
,
3615 Safronov, discovered by
US-American astronomer
Edward L. G. Bowell in 1983, is named after him,
[
]
as is
Safronov Regio on Pluto.
[ (Center Latitude: -13.36°, Center Longitude: 209.49°)]
Awards
*''
Otto Schmidt USSR Academy of Sciences
The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991. It united the country's leading scientists and was subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (u ...
Prize'' (1974)
*''Leonard Prize Meteoritical Society'' (1989)
*''
Kuiper Prize in Planetary Science'' (1990)
List of selected publications
*''Evolution of the Protoplanetary Cloud and Formation of the Earth and the Planets.'' Moscow:
Nauka Press, 1969. Trans. NASA TTF 677, 1972.
See also
*
Accretion (astrophysics)
In astrophysics, accretion is the accumulation of particles into a massive object by gravity, gravitationally attracting more matter, typically gaseous matter, into an accretion disk. Most astronomical objects, such as galaxy, galaxies, stars, and ...
*
George Wetherill
References
External links
List of Gerard Kuiper award recipientsat the website of
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 ...
A short biography
Safronov
Soviet astronomers
1917 births
1999 deaths
Moscow State University alumni
Russian scientists
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