Nadezhda Nikolaevna Sytinskaya
Born(1906-02-22)February 22, 1906
Tallinn , Estonia
DiedJuly 4, 1974(1974-07-04) (aged 68)
Leningrad, Russian SFSR, USSR
CitizenshipRussian, Soviet
EducationSaint Petersburg State University
Scientific career
FieldsPlanetary science

Nadezhda Nikolaevna Sytinskaya (Russian: Надежда Николаевна Сытинская; 22 February 1906 – 4 July 1974) was a Soviet Astronomer and academic originally from Tallinn who studied meteoroids and planetary surfaces.[1] Much of her work was done at the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan's Tashkent Observatory and at Pulkovo Observatory in Leningrad.[2][3]

Biography

After graduating from Leningrad State University, Sytinskaya worked as a professional researcher in Tashkent until 1930 when she returned to her alma mater to continue her work now at Pulkovo under the Russian Academy of Sciences.[4] At some point after 1934 she was conferred the degree of Doctor of Sciences in Physics and Mathematics by the Soviet Higher Attestation Commission following a successful dissertation defense.[5]

In 1941 as the German army approached the city prior to the Siege of Leningrad the observatory at Pulkovo was heavily damaged by shelling and the staff were evacuated out of the city.[6] Following the conclusion of World War II, Sytinskaya returned to Leningrad State University where in 1951 she attained an appointment to full professor.[4] She would go on to remain at the university for the rest of her life up until 1974.[4] She is buried at the Krasnenkoye cemetery in St. Petersburg.[7]

Career

Sytinskaya is credited with, alongside her husband Vsevolod Sharonov, co-formulating the meteor-slag theory of lunar surface regolith formation which hypothesized that the lunar soil was mainly the result of chemical and structural changes to porous surface rock due to meteoroid bombardment vaporizing a thin upper layer into fine dust.[8][9] This is the theory which was confirmed in 1966 when Luna-9 became the first human-made object to land on the moon.[10]

Her research also included obtaining estimates of the density of the Draconids Meteor Shower,[11] developing techniques of meteor photometry,[12] creating a system for obtaining absolute photometry of the moon,[13] investigations of the color excess of asteroids,[14] and early estimates of the atmospheric pressure of Mars.[15] She also introduced the concept of "smoothness factor" as a parameter for determining of the degree of surface roughness exhibited by planetary bodies.[16] In 1965 Sytinskaya starred in the film Luna directed by Pavel Klushantsev, working also as a scientific consultant throughout its filming.[17]

Sytinskaya crater on Mars is named in her honor.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "Женщины в астрономии". Московский Женский Музей (in Russian). Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  2. ↑ Gorshkov, P. (1946). "1946Obs....66..217G Page 218". The Observatory. 66: 217. Bibcode:1946Obs....66..217G. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Latest research on the question of vegetation on the planet Mars". www.sivatherium.narod.ru. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 "Sytinskaya Nadezhda Nikolaevna". Astronet. Archived from the original on October 6, 2023. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  5. ↑ "ANNOTATED INDEX NO 67 OF ASTRONOMICAL LITERATURE PUBLISHED IN THE USSR IN APRIL - MAY 1950" (PDF) (published September 14, 2011). June 1, 1950 – via CIA.
  6. ↑ Gorshkov, P. (1946). "1946Obs....66..217G Page 218". The Observatory. 66: 217. Bibcode:1946Obs....66..217G. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  7. ↑ ":: Космический мемориал :: Н.Н. Сытинская ::". sm.evg-rumjantsev.ru. Archived from the original on February 23, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  8. ↑ Balashov, Yuri (2007), "Sharonov, Vsevolod Vasilievich", in Hockey, Thomas; Trimble, Virginia; Williams, Thomas R.; Bracher, Katherine (eds.), The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers, New York, NY: Springer, pp. 1051–1052, doi:10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_1269, ISBN 978-0-387-30400-7, retrieved October 6, 2023
  9. ↑ Sytinskaya, N. N. (1962). "1962IAUS...14..391S Page 391". The Moon. 14: 391. Bibcode:1962IAUS...14..391S. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Space: The Inhospitable Moon". Time. February 18, 1966. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
  11. ↑ Arlt, R. (1999). "1999pimo.conf...29A Page 41". Proceedings of the International Meteor Conference: 29. Bibcode:1999pimo.conf...29A. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  12. ↑ Kozak, P. M.; Kozak, L. V. (2015). "Method for photometry of low light level meteors and earth artificial satellites from observations of superisocon TV systems". Kosm. Nauka Tehnol. 21 (1): 38–47. doi:10.15407/knit2015.01.038.
  13. ↑ Velikodsky, Yu. I.; Opanasenko, N. V.; Akimov, L. A.; Korokhin, V. V.; Shkuratov, Yu. G.; Kaydash, V. G.; Videen, G.; Ehgamberdiev, Sh. A.; Berdalieva, N. E. (July 1, 2011). "New Earth-based absolute photometry of the Moon". Icarus. 214 (1): 30–45. Bibcode:2011Icar..214...30V. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2011.04.021. ISSN 0019-1035.
  14. ↑ Dycus, Robert D. (1969). "The Meteorite Flux at the Surface of Mars". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 81 (481): 399–414. Bibcode:1969PASP...81..399D. doi:10.1086/128793. ISSN 0004-6280. JSTOR 40674750. S2CID 121773295.
  15. ↑ "THE ATMOSPHERE AND SURFACE OF MARS -- A SELECTIVE REVIEW" (PDF). NASA. 1965. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  16. ↑ Koval, I. K. (October 1, 1963). "Degree of Smoothness of the Continents and Seas of Mars". AIAA Journal Russian Supplement. 1 (10): 2433–2437. doi:10.2514/3.2090 – via Aerospace Research Central.
  17. ↑ The Moon. ЛУНА (Luna, 1965)(restored color) by Pavel Klushantsev, retrieved October 5, 2023
  18. ↑ "Planetary Names". planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
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