The development of Odessa meteor astronomy in the mid XX century

Abstract

The article uses the method of source analysis to highlight the place and role of the Odessa Astronomical Observatory in the deployment of meteoric research in the middle of the last century, both in Ukraine and at all-Union and international levels. Due to the productive scientific and organizational work of Vladimir Tsesevich, the successful design activity of Efim Kramer, the development of new methods for processing the results of observations and the improvement of meteoric research techniques, the Odessa Astronomical Observatory in this period is becoming one of the recognized world centres in the field of photographic meteor research. The international scientific community approved the report on the obturator of variable section invented at the Odessa Observatory, made at the suggestion of the Astronomical Council of the USSR Academy of Sciences at the International Symposium in Manchester in 1955. The obturator of Efim Kramer was taking into service during the observations of the International Geophysical Year program, and the Soviet government entrusted to the Odessa Astronomical Observatory to guide and summarize all-Union work in this area during 1956–1959 and during the implementation of further geophysical meteor research programs. In 1962, all observations that scientists conducted during the International Geophysical Year and the International Year of the Cooperation at the Astrophysical Institute of the Tajik SSR and the Odessa Astronomical Observatory were processed. To study some patterns of processes in the upper atmosphere from a planetary point of view, a comparison was made of the results obtained in Odessa and Dushanbe. The study used separate data from Kiev, New Mexico (USA) and Massachuset (USA).

The scientific achievements of Odessa scientists were a significant contribution to the development of meteoric research in Ukraine and contributed to the fact that the Odessa Astronomical Observatory became the leading institution in the USSR in meteoric astronomy in the middle of the twentieth century and did global coordination of meteor observations. The collection and analysis of data conducted by the observatory became an important condition for solving the tasks set for scientists by the international scientific community during the International Geophysical Year, International Year of the Cooperation, International Year of the Quiet Sun. All this contributed to the expansion of international cooperation and cooperation in scientific research in the field of astronomy and ensured the entry of Ukraine into the leaders of world astronomical science.