Astronomy and cosmic geodesy department trains specialists in astronomy and cosmic geodesy.

Its present head is N.A. Sakhibullin.

It is the oldest department of its kind in Russia and has been accepting students since as far back as 1810. Its first head was Joseph Johann Littrow.

Joseph Johann Litttrow

Littrow lunar crater

Among its numerous students were Nikolai Lobachevsky, great Russian mathematician and geometer, renowned primarily for his pioneering works on hyperbolic geometry, otherwise known as Lobachevskian geometry, and Ivan Simonov, Russian astronomer and member of the first Antarctic expedition. The expedition’s route:

The department’s observatory, unique for its time, was built in 1833 – 1837.

In 1901 a new observatory was built in the suburb of Kazan.

In the 1930s the department started to train specialists in geodesy. In the 1940s a number of important scientists were evacuated to Kazan. Among them were (left to right on the pictures below) Otto Schmidt (cosmogonic hypothesis), Viktor Hambardzumyan (star systems), Viktor Sobolev (moving shells of stars).

In the 1960s the department started developing in the field of astrophysics – physical modeling of stars and their parameters by studying their specters. Now the department possesses an observatory in North Caucasus, Russia and a unique 1.5 meter telescope. The observatory in North Caucasus is situated on the slope of Pastukhov mountain (approximately 2000 meters high).

The unique telescope, custom-built in 1995 in Saint-Petersburg, Russia, is installed in Antalya, Turkey.

Astronomy in Kazan today

People :

1 Academician of Russian Academy of Sciences

10 Russian Doctors of Science

30 Russian Candidates of Science

Research :

Astrometry – A.I. Nefedyeva (on the photo with pupils), V.V. Lapaeva (on the photo), R.I. Gumerov

Comets, meteors – O.I.Belkovich (on the photo with pupils), V.V.Andreev, E.D.Kondratyeva, M.G.Ishmukhametova

Selenodesy – Yu.A. Nefedyev, N.G.Rizvanov (on the photo with pupils), M.I. Shpekin, N.K. Petrova

Multiple stars – G.V. Zhukov, R.Ya. Zhuchkov

Close binary systems – V.V. Shimanskiy, V.F.Suleimanov, S. Pozdniakova

Non-LTE – N.A. Sakhibullin, N.N. Shimanskaya, D. Ivanova

Extragalactic astronomy – N.A. Sakhibullin, I.F. Bikmaev (on the photo)

RTT150 (Russian-Turkish 1.5-m Telecope) - N.A. Sakhibullin, I.F. Bikmaev, R.I. Gumerov, A. I. Galeev (Official site)

The department’s lectures, researchers and students work closely together with the leading scientists from Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, USA and other countries.

Perspectives

19^th century – Solar System

20^th century – our Galaxy

21^st century – extragalactic objects

Education

Department opened : 1810

Specialities : Astronomy (since 1810), Geodesy (since 1930)

Courses : Mathematics and General Physics (1^st year), spherical astronomy, astrometry, celestial mechanics, astrophysics, star and extragalactical astronomy etc. Each summer students participate in practical trainings in various observatories.

Course duration : 5 years

Number of students admitted per year : 15

Employment perspectives :

1) Scientific careers in various observatories, institutes etc.

2) Office work (all of the students undergo intensive computer training)

3) Postgraduate course

Photos

Student presenting a diploma paper:

I.F. Bikmaev with Turkish colleagues and students in Ankara, 2006: