Bobrovnikov Nikolay Fedorovich [Bobrovnikoff Nicholas Theodore] General data:
29.04.1896 - 21.03.1988
Place of birth: Starobilske village, Kharkiv province, Russian Empire
Studied in: Empress Catherine II Petrograd Mining Institute, Russian Empire (from 2016 St. Petersburg Mining University, Russian Federation) (1914-1917 (1916)); Kharkiv University (since 1999 V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University) (1918-1919 (1918)); University of Chicago, Illinois state, USA (1924-1927); Charles University, Prague City, Czechoslovak Republic (since 1993 Charles University, Prague City, Czech Republic) (11.1921-1924); Vladimir Military School, St. Petersburg, Russian Empire (1916); University of Lublin, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (10.1921-11.1921);
Key interests: history of astronomy, physics of comets, solar wind, astronomy. ScD Thesis: Study of the nature and physical properties of comets (1927 University of Chicago, Illinois state, USA);
Biography:
He was born on April 29, 1896, in the Starobilske village of Kharkiv Province of Russian Empire (since 1938, Starobilsk city, Luhansk Oblast), according to other sources, in the Markivka village of Starobilsk district of Kharkiv province, near the Starobilske village.
In 1914 he graduated from the Kharkiv Gymnasium. according to other sources, he studied at the Krakow Gymnasium.
In 1914-1917 (according to other sources until 1916, possibly with a break of a year) he studied at the St. Petersburg Mining Institute of Empress Catherine II, in 1916 at the Vladimir Military School, where he was mobilized in connection with events on the fronts of World War I and which he graduated with the rank of Ensign and sent to the front, and during 1918-1919 (according to other data since 1917, perhaps only in 1918, according to some reports, studied only half of the first semester) Kharkiv University at the Astronomical Department under the direction of L. O. Struve. He took part in the Civil War as a member of General AI Denikin's Volunteer Army: in 1918 he became a junior officer in the Russian army and joined the White (anti-Bolshevik) army. He was severely wounded on May 12, 1919 near the Kholodna Balka village of Dombas, recovered, and later fell ill with typhus, was evacuated from the Crimea to Cyprus in 1920. In May 1920 he emigrated, in October 1921 he became a student at the University of Lublin. A month later he reached Prague and continued his studies there under V. V. Stratonov and I. I. Sikora at Charles University, resumed his studies of physics, mathematics, and astronomy, graduating in 1924 with a master's degree.
While studying in Prague, he also had practical classes in astronomy at the Onzejov Observatory in the suburbs of Prague. He also became a member of the Russian Student Christian Union in Prague, and was later elected its president.
In 1924 he moved to the United States, studied at the University of Chicago under the guidance of astrophysicist Edwin Frost as a graduate student. Since 1925 he has been involved in the study of the radial velocities of stars using a 40-inch refractor according to the program of the York Observatory. For his doctoral (PhD) dissertation, he made a thorough analysis of the behavior of Halley's comet and twenty-seven other comets observed in 1908. He focused on the molecular bands and lines within the spectra of these comets and interpreted their various phenomena as effects of solar fluorescence. N. F. Bobrovnikov also identified some previously unknown spectral features associated with comets. In order to do the job, in early 1926 he conducted a detailed spectroscopic analysis of molecules in the Raeson Laboratory of the University of Chicago City.
In 1927 he graduated from the University of Chicago and received a doctorate. The title of the dissertation was: "Study of the nature and physical properties of comets".
After graduation, he worked for several months at York University as an assistant and at the York Observatory. During 1927-1929 he was on a business trip at the expense of the Kellogg Foundation at the Lex Observatory on Mount Hamilton. Here he studied a large number of plates and spectra of Halley's Comet, comparing them with images obtained at the Mount Wilson Observatory. He found evidence of what would later be called the solar wind.
Since 1929 to 1930 he was a fellow of the National Research Fund for Physics at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1930 he received American citizenship. Since 1930 to 1966 he worked at Ohio State University as an assistant professor until January 1935 as an associate professor, and during 1945-1966 as a professor. At the same time, during 1934-1937, the astronomer served as director of the Perkins Astronomical Observatory and during 1937-1951 (according to other sources, up to and including 1952) was its official director. Working at the Perkins Observatory, he focused on the spectra of cool M-type stars that exhibit strong molecular bands.
In 1940, the scientist was awarded the prize of the International Society of Meteorology and Planetary Sciences for achievements in the study of astronomy and related sciences.
In 1944, the scientist was drafted into the army and served in the United States Air Force for several years.
In 1952 he was invited as a scientific consultant to the Battelevsky Scientific Memorial Institute, where he worked in 1966.
In 1966 he retired as a professor at Ohio State University, receiving the title of Honored Professor. In retirement he devoted himself to work in the history of astronomy.
He died on March 21, 1988 in Berkeley city Californiastate of USA.
An asteroid 2637 which was discovered at the German Observatory in 1919, was named after the scientist's name, as Bobrovnikoff.
Summarizing the above, let's say that he studied the spectra and photometry of stars and comets, comparing estimates of their brightness. He studied the nature of asteroids. Another important result of studies of the spectra of asteroids was the proof that, unlike comets, they shine with reflected sunlight, and therefore do not have gas shells and the history of astronomy. In addition to Russian, he spoke six foreign languages.
Main publications:
1. Bobrovnikoff N. T., Culver R. B. Astronomy Before the Telescope: The Earth Moon System, vol. 1 . Pachart Publishing House, 1984.
2. Bobrovnikoff, Nicholas T. (1931). “Halley’s Comet and Its Apparition of 1909–1911.” Publications of the Lick Observatory 17, pt. 2: 309–482.
3. Бобровников М. Ф. Фізична теорія комет у світлі спектроскопічних даних, 1942
4. Бобровников М. Ф. Дотелескопічна топографія Місяця, 1967
Sources:
1 Hockey T., Trimble V., Williams Th. R., et al. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. — New York: Springer, 2007.—Vol. 1, 2.—1341 p.(1364) -P. 139-140(179-180), 395(433)
2 Літнарович Р.М. Українські астрономи. За матеріалами Вікіпедії станом на 10.06.2012 р. Рівне, 2012.-258с.-С.25-27
3 Бобровников, Николай Федорович// Большая биографическая энциклопедия
4 БОБРОВНИКОВ Николай Федорович// Большой энциклопедический словарь
