Short Report on the Conference “Atmosphereless Solar System Bodies in the Space Exploration Era”, Kharkiv Ukraine June 18–22, 2018
Robert M. Nelson, Planetary Science Institute
American Astronomical Society Historical Astronomy News No 93 May 2019
Last year was the 210th anniversary of astronomical science at the Astronomical Observatory of Karizan — Kharkiv University in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and also the 40th anniversary of the study of small bodies of the solar system at the Observatory.
In commemoration of these anniversaries, the Physics Department of Karazin — Kharkiv University hosted an international conference on Atmosphereless Solar System Bodies (ASSBs) during the week of 2018 June 18–22. The intent of the conference was to provide a comprehensive insight into the study of ASSBs, including theoretical and laboratory investigations combined with information returned by ground-based observers, telescopes in Earth orbit, and deep space missions.
Background
In 1785, four years before the ratification of the United States constitution, the European region that we now call Ukraine was incorporated into the imperial Russian empire under the reign of Empress Catherine the Great. The University at Kharkiv, Ukraine was founded in 1804 at the initiative of the educator V. N. Karazin under a charter issued by Czar Alexander I of Russia, Catherine the Great’s grandson. It is now known as the Karazin — Kharkiv National University.
The University rapidly grew into an international center of intellectual excellence, claiming as graduates three Nobel laureates including the great theoretical physicist Lev Landau. (Curiously, before his move to Moscow, Landau, known as a great theoretician, chaired Karazin University’s Department of Experimental Physics. There was a separate Department of Theoretical Physics.)
The University established its Astronomical Observatory in 1808. It quickly rose to become a leading center of astronomical excellence conducting fundamental research in the physics of the Sun, the planets, asteroids, comets, and satellites. The Russian-American astronomer, Otto Struve was a Kharkiv native and started his scientific career at the Observatory. After Struve’s immigration to the United States, he went on to lead a number of American astronomical institutions, and also became President of the International Astronomical Union.
In 1918 Academician N. P. Barabashev began his systematic studies of the Moon and planets at the Kharkiv Observatory. In 1961 he led the group that published the first images of the far side of the Moon, based on photos from the USSR’s Luna 3 spacecraft. He remained at the observatory until his death in 1971.
The importance of laboratory astrophysics experiments in support of astronomical observations was expanded at the observatory by Leonid Akimov who, following the work of Bernard Lyot in France, designed one of the first laboratory goniometric photometers, an instrument intended to measure the angular scattering properties of simulated planetary regolith materials in the laboratory. The photopolarimetric data from such laboratory astrophysics measurements are compared to astronomical observations at the telescope. The observatory museum displays Akimov’s original instrument.
Akimov, born in 1937, continued his work as a member of the Department of Planetary and Solar Physics until his death in 2017. Akimov’s laboratory research endeavors were continued by Yuriy Shkuratov who now serves as Head of the Department of Remote Sensing of Planets. Today, a new generation of goniometric photopolarimetric laboratory instruments continues at the observatory under the direction of Vladimir Psarev.
The Conference
The rationale for the 210th-anniversary conference was to provide a deep and comprehensive insight into selected aspects of the study of ASSBs, both by ground-based techniques and space missions. The material addressed various remote sensing techniques, laboratory simulations, and theoretical modeling to explore new ideas relevant to understanding the latest results of investigations of small solar system bodies and planetary satellites. The conference website (containing abstracts of the scientific presentations), may be found at http://www.astron.kharkov.ua/conference/ssb/18/i ndex.php . Number 93 HAD News May 2019 Page 10
The anniversary conference was organized by Irene Belskaya, of the Karazin — Kharkiv University.
An Important Historical Note
Kharkiv exchanged hands four times during the bitter Eastern Front battles of World War II, and the impact on the local civilians was severe. Just outside of Kharkiv is a mass grave of thousands of Ukrainian Jews and Roma who were exterminated during the Nazi occupation. The observatory grounds include a poignant reminder of this past — a memorial to the seven members of the Astronomy Department who died under the Nazi occupation during World War II (often called the Great War against fascism). Local citizens regularly place flowers at the memorial today, more than a half-century after the event. At the base of the memorial is a cast iron remnant from a spacecraft re-entry, a symbolic testimony to the life goals of the observatory staff.
The war memorial erected on the observatory grounds in honor of seven members of the observatory staff who lost their lives in World War II. Local citizens often place flowers at the monument to honor the memory of those who were lost. The inscription on the monument has the names, occupations, and causes of death of the seven members of the staff who lost their lives. They are:
Alexey Ivanovich Rasdolsky, professor 1877 — Jan 31, 1942, starvation.
Sergey Matveevich Semiletov, professor, 1879 — March 10, 1943, killed during a bomb attack
Yury Nicolaevich Fadeev, docent (assist. prof.), 1906 — Feb 08, 1942, starvation
Mstislav Cergeevich Savron, docent, 1902 — March 15, 1943, shot in his home during Nazi’s return to Kharkiv.
Grigory Lasarevich Strashny, science fellow, ~1905 — Jan 1942, killed in the Jewish ghetto
Ludmila Mihaylovna Kostyrya, calculator 1884 — Apr 03, 1942, starvation
Vassily Alexeevich Balansky , docent, 1907 — March 14, 1942, missing following bomb attack
The author would like to express his appreciation to Dimitry Stankewich of the Department of Astronomy of Karazin University) for translating these inscriptions.
