ON THE HISTORY OF THE FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE KHARKIV SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL OF PLANETOLOGY

The paper is devoted to the formation and development of the scientific school of planetology of Academician Mykola Bara- bashov, which emerged in the 1930s at the Kharkiv Astronomical Observatory. During this period, research focused on studying the physical conditions on the Moon, Sun, planets, and interstellar environment under various observation conditions was developed here. The genesis of the formation of the scientific school of planetology has been studied; the process of determining the main objects and methods of research, their development and improvement has been shown. In particular, the development of photographic photometry methods by academician Mykola Barabashov was traced, whose research strategy was based on processing long series of observations of the Moon and planets under different conditions of their illumination by the Sun. Based on the data collected, Kharkiv astronomers (students and followers of Mykola Barabashov) drew conclusions about the structure of the surfaces of the studied celestial bodies, the properties of their atmospheres (Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn), and began investigating the processes occurring on the planets. It is shown that the development of the scientific team at the Kharkiv Astronomical Observatory, united by common research topics and methodologies, was significantly influenced by the activities of the Commission on Planetary Physics of the Astronomical Council of the USSR Academy of Sciences, which was headed by Academician Mykola Barabashov in the 1950s and 1960s. The achievements of representatives of the Kharkiv scientific school of planetology in the field of physics and chemistry of the Moon, large and small planets of the Solar System, were highly appreciated and received worldwide recognition from the scientific community. At the same time, this allowed specialists from the Kharkiv Astronomical Observatory to participate in solving problems related to the development of spacecraft, conducting special photometric studies of the Moon, Mars, and Venus as a part of the USSR space program in the 1960s—1980s, and subsequently to participate in international research projects.