Mikheil Vashakidze

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Mikheil Alexandres dze Vashakidze (August 15, 1909–November 27, 1956)[1] was a Georgian astronomer working in the Georgian astrophysical observatory from 1936 to 1956. He and Victor Alekseyevich Dombrovsky (Виктор Алексеевич Домбровский) (September 30, 1913–February 1, 1972) each independently discovered the polarized nature of radiation from the Crab Nebula in 1952 and 1953, which was due to the presence of a synchrotron mechanism. They worked at Byurakan Observatory.

Vashakidze also created a new method for learning the distribution of the stars in space, which is now known as the Vashakidze–Oort method. He was awarded the "Order of Honour".

The Vashakidze crater on the Moon is named after him.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b USGS. Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature Feature Information; Moon: Vashakidze (web). Direction of Increasing Longitude: east Longitude Range: -180.0° to 180.0°. USGS. Retrieved on 2008-06-01.
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