Two more classrooms named after prominent astronomers
Two classrooms in the building of the City Astronomical Observatory (18 Kremyovskaya St., Bldg. 3), which now houses the Department of Astronomy and Space Geodesy of the Institute of Physics, have been named after famous scientists by the decision of the Academic Board.
“Auditorium No. 101 (1A) was named after Ivan Simonov, a Russian astronomer, one of the discoverers of the Antarctic, who was rector of the Imperial Kazan University from 1846 to 1855. This year marks the 230th anniversary of the birth of Simonov, the only scientist on the circumnavigatio led by Bellingshausen and Lazarev that discovered the Antarctic in 1820. Participating in the expedition, Ivan Simonov was engaged in determining the location (latitude and longitude) by the stars. This made it possible to confirm the existence of the southern continent. In the 1830s what Simonov had done was called astronomic geodesy. Kazan University started offering degrees in this specialization in 1932,” said Vladimir Bezmenov, Head of the Department of Astronomy and Space Geodesy.
The memory of Shaukat Habibullin (1915-1996), a famous astronomer, mathematician and teacher, will also be immortalized. His name was assigned to the auditorium No. 110 (2A).
“Shaukat Habibullin, whose 110th anniversary will be celebrated in 2025, is a participant of the Great Patriotic War, he was the head of the Department of Astronomy, Dean of the Faculty of Physics, Vice-Rector for Research, Head of the Astrometric Department of the Astronomical Observatory. The main works of this outstanding scientist relate to the theory of the Moon’s rotation, selenodesy, and stellar astronomy. Even before the launch of the first artificial satellite, Shaukat Habibullin created a method of determining the location on the Moon. In 1966 almost simultaneously with the American researcher Eckhardt and independently of him, he developed a nonlinear theory of the Moon’s physical libration. In addition, Khabibullin is one of the organizers of the North Caucasus Astronomical Station of Kazan University,” added Dr Bezmenov.
KFU has a scholarship named after Shaukat Khabibullin. It is received by students who successfully conduct scientific research in astronomy, geodesy, and space geodesy.
“Plaques will be installed on the doors of the auditoriums. In addition, we plan to place information about these famous scientists and exhibits from their era,” informed Bezmenov.
The observatories of Kazan University are included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage.