Yuri Ivashchenko at Andrushivka Astronomical Observatory

Yuri Ivashchenko (; born April 12, 1961) is a Ukrainian

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 ...

Biography

Yuri Ivashchenko was born in

Andrushivka Andrushivka (, ) is a city in Berdychiv Raion, Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine. Prior to the 2020 administrative reform, it was the administrative center of the former Andrushivka Raion. The population in 2023 is 8669 people. The city is located in the ...

Zhytomyr Oblast Zhytomyr Oblast (), also referred to as Zhytomyrshchyna (), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in northwestern Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Zhytomyr. Its population is approximately H ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

on April 12, 1961, the day

Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who, aboard the first successful Human spaceflight, crewed sp ...

became the first human to journey into outer space. Therefore, his parents decided to name him after Yuri Gagarin. His father was a journalist of a regional newspaper, and his mother was a teacher of science and astronomy. He graduated from a school No. 1 in Andrushivka. He was fond of astronomy since he was a child. In 1983, he graduated from Taras Shevchenko State University of Kyiv, physics faculty, department of astronomy. In 1983–1992, he worked in the Main Astronomical 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 ...

, where he received a degree of Candidate of Physico-mathematical Sciences. In 1992, after the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

, he left his academic position and joined an

automobile dealer A car dealership, or car dealer, is a business that sells new or used cars, at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. Car dealerships also often sell spare parts and automotive maintena ...

company in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. In 1998, he started to build his private observatory, which was launched on April 12, 2001, as

Andrushivka Astronomical Observatory Andrushivka Astronomical Observatory () is a private astronomical observatory in the town suburbs of Andrushivka, Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine. It was established in 2001. The founder and director of the observatory is Yuri Ivashchenko. The observa ...

(A50). In 2003, Yuri Ivashchenko and his colleagues discovered their first asteroids in the observatory. In 2005–2012, Andrushivka Astronomical Observatory was among top-20 observatories of the world by number of minor planet observations. Since 2003, more than 110 asteroids were discovered by its team.Minor Planet Discoverers – Minor Planet Center
/ref> In June 2014, because of the crisis in the automotive industry in Ukraine, he left the dealer center and once again became a research scientist at the Main Observatory of Ukraine's Academy of Sciences. Meanwhile, he continues supervising of the Andrushivka Observatory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivashchenko, Yuri 1961 births Living people Discoverers of asteroids Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv alumni People from Zhytomyr Oblast Ukrainian astronomers