Pelageya Shajn

Pelageya Fedorovna Shajn, née Sannikova (Пелагея Фёдоровна Шайн) (1894 – 27 August 1956), was a Russian astronomer in the Soviet Union, and the first woman credited with the discovery of a minor planet, at the Simeiz Observatory in 1928.[2][3] Pelageya also discovered numerous variable stars and co-discovered the periodic, Jupiter-family comet 61P/Shajn–Schaldach. She was married to prominent Soviet astronomer Grigory Shajn.

Minor planets discovered: 19 [1]
see § List of discovered minor planets

Biography

Pelageya Shajn was born in 1894 to a peasant family in the village Ostanin located in the Solikamsky District of the Perm Governorate.[3] She was the wife of prominent Soviet astronomer Grigory Shajn, who was also her college at the Simeiz Observatory. Her maiden name was Sannikova (Санникова).[4][3] In 1928, she discovered the asteroid 1112 Polonia, the first minor planet to be discovered by a woman.[5]

She died 27 August 1956, shortly after her husband had died on 4 August the same year.[4]

Awards and honors

Main-belt asteroid 1190 Pelagia, discovered in 1930 by Grigory Neujmin who worked at Simeiz, was named in her honor.[2] In addition the asteroid 1648 Shajna was named in her and her husband's memory,[6] while the lunar crater Shayn was exclusively named after her husband.[7]

Discoveries

Her astronomical discoveries are credited under the name P. F. Shajn. As with her husband, her last name, "Shajn", is sometimes given as "Schajn", "Shain" or "Shayn", the latter being the modern English transliteration.[4]

Pelageya Shajn discovered 19 minor planets (see list below)[1] and about 140 variable stars.[8] In 1949, she also co-discovered 61P/Shajn–Schaldach, a periodic comet of the Jupiter family.[9] However, the non-periodic comet C/1925 F1 (Shajn-Comas Solá; also known as Comet 1925 VI or Comet 1925a) was co-discovered by her husband rather than by her.

List of discovered minor planets
1112 Polonia15 August 1928list
1113 Katja15 August 1928list
1120 Cannonia11 September 1928list
1121 Natascha11 September 1928list
1369 Ostanina27 August 1935list
1387 Kama27 August 1935list
1390 Abastumani3 October 1935list
1475 Yalta21 September 1935list
1610 Mirnaya11 September 1928list
1648 Shajna5 September 1935list
1654 Bojeva8 October 1931list
1735 ITA10 September 1948list
1954 Kukarkin15 August 1952list
1987 Kaplan11 September 1952list
2108 Otto Schmidt4 October 1948list
2445 Blazhko3 October 1935list
3080 Moisseiev3 October 1935list
3958 Komendantov10 October 1953list
5533 Bagrov21 September 1935list
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See also

References
  1. "Minor Planet Discoverers (by number)". Minor Planet Center. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  2. Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(1190) Pelagia". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (1190) Pelagia. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 100. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1191. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
  3. "Санникова-Шайн Пелагея Федоровна, астроном" [Sannikova-Shajn, Pelageya Fedorovna, astronomer] (in Russian). Пермская крае (Perm Krai). Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  4. "Shain [Shayn, Shajn], Grigory Abramovich". Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. New York, NY: Springer. 2007. p. 1046. ISBN 978-0-387-30400-7. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  5. Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(1112) Polonia". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (1112) Polonia. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 94. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1113. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
  6. Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(1648) Shajna". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (1648) Shajna. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 131. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1649. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
  7. "Lunar crater Shayn". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
  8. Dobronravin, P. P. (1950). Krymskaia astrofizicheskaia observatoriia (Crimean Astrophysical Observatory) (in Russian). University of California. p. 46.
  9. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 61P/Shajn-Schaldach". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 29 May 2018.

Further reading
  • Мишланова Л. Самостоянье (Mishlanova L. Samostoyaniya): "Очерки о людях науки и культуры Пермского края. Пермь" (Essays of men on science and culture of Perm Krai). Пушка, 2006. 320 с.: ил., Из содерж.: Планета Пелагея (Planet Pelagia). С. 27-33.: фот.
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