Russian astronomer, acad. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1890). R. in Nikolaev. He graduated from the Moscow University in 1855 and was left with him to prepare for a professorship. In 1857 he began working at the Moscow University. In 1868-1869 he was on a scientific trip to Italy, where he got acquainted with the work of the Italian Society of Spectroscopy. In 1873-1890 he was the director of the observatory of the Moscow University, in 1890-1895 he was the director of the Pulkovo observatory.

Bredikhin's scientific research covers many branches of astronomy. He made a number of observations on the meridian circle, made micrometric measurements of the positions of minor planets, investigated the errors of the micrometric screw and the so-called personal errors observer. Bredikhin is the founder of the Moscow astrophysical school. With his direct participation, systematic observations of the solar chromosphere with a prominence spectroscope, photography of sunspots and flares, and studies of the surface of the Moon, Mars and Jupiter were started. In 1875, following W. Hoggins, he began studying the chemical composition of radiating gaseous nebulae. He also made a significant contribution to instrumental optics and gravimetry. However, the main direction of his research was the study of comets (begun as early as 1861). He developed and improved Bessel's theory of cometary forms, created a mechanical theory of cometary forms, which made it possible to describe the movement of matter not only near the head, but also in the tail of a comet. This theory was based on the position that the tails of comets consist of particles emitted from the nucleus of a comet in the direction of the Sun and then begin to move away from the Sun under the action of its repulsive forces. Having determined the accelerations of several dozen cometary tails, Bredikhin in 1877 created a classification of tail shapes, according to which they are divided into three main types. In 1884 he singled out the fourth type (anomalous). Bredikhin's classification of comet tails is still accepted today. Based on his theory of cometary forms, Bredikhin made a number of conclusions about the chemical composition of the tails of various comets, but they were not confirmed. He was one of the first to study the spectra of comet heads. Developed and expanded the put forward J. V. Schiaparelli theory of the formation of meteor showers as a result of the decay of cometary nuclei. He summarized his research in the works "Etudes on the origin of cosmic meteors and the formation of their streams" (1903), "On the tails of comets" (2nd edition 1934). Of great importance for the development of domestic astronomy was the activity of Bredikhin as director of the Pulkovo Observatory. He opened wide the doors of the observatory for Russian astronomers. He did a lot of social work.

President of the Society of Naturalists (1886-1890), member of the German Academy of Naturalists "Leopoldina" (1883), Italian Society of Spectroscopy (1889), member of the Bureau of Longitudes in Paris (1894) and other scientific societies.

"Starry sky" - The age of the Earth is approximately 4.5 billion years. Light from the Sun reaches the Earth in 8.5 minutes. Task for young astronomers. The earth is the habitat of man. Ancient Greek legend. Earth is the third planet from the Sun in the solar system. Planets. The stars in the sky are grouped. Shells of the Earth. Stars on the sky. A legend has come down to us from the ancient Greeks.

"The first cosmonauts" - Yu. Gagarin and his parents. March 9, 1934 in the village of Klushino (Smolensk region) was born Yuri A. Gagarin. Gagarin is a cadet of the Saratov flying club. Place of landing Yu.A. Gagarin. Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin (1934–1968) - Soviet pilot-cosmonaut Y. Gagarin and V. Tereshkova. Y. Gagarin and S.P. Korolev. April 12, 1961 Yu.A.Gagarin on the spacecraft "Vostok" made the first space flight.

"Yuri Gagarin" - In 1951 he graduated from the school of working youth. Gagarin did a lot of social and political work. In February 1968 he graduated with honors from the Air Force Academy. N.E. Zhukovsky in Moscow. Gagarin made his first steps in aviation as a student at a technical school. Yuri studied at the Saratov flying club. Since 1966 - an honorary member of the International Academy of Astronautics and Space Research.

"Minor Planets" - Temperature and relief of the surface of Mercury. Earth. On Phobos, the largest crater, Stickney, has a diameter of 10 km. The surface of the moon. The distance of Mercury from the Earth is from 82 to 217 million km. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars. Surface of Venus. Mercury. Atmosphere and water on Mars. Venus. Figure of Venus. Above the surface of the earth.

"Cosmonauts" - Monument to Yu.A. Gagarin. Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin. 1988 - Manarov, A. Solovyov. Total starts - 210. 1980 - Kizim, Malyshev, Popov, Strekalov. Significant dates. A set of products for astronauts. Pilots - cosmonauts of the USSR. 1991 - Artsebarsky, Aubakirov, Afanasiev, Manakov. Launch vehicle "Soyuz" with a transport ship.

BREDIKHIN, FYODOR ALEKSANDROVICH(1831–1904), Russian astronomer. Born November 26 (December 8), 1831 in the city of Nikolaev in an old noble family; all his relatives on his father's side and on his mother's side were sailors. He received his secondary education at the Richelieu Lyceum in Odessa. In 1851-1855 he studied at Moscow University. After graduating from graduate school in 1858 he lectured, in 1862 he defended his master's thesis, and three years later he received a doctorate. In 1865 he became an ordinary professor at Moscow University, in 1873 - director of the university observatory. In 1890–1895 he headed the Pulkovo Observatory.

Bredikhin's research covers many areas of astronomy, but he gained wide popularity thanks to his work on the astrophysics of comets. The scientist developed Bessel's theory of cometary forms, created a mechanical theory of cometary forms, which made it possible to describe the movement of matter not only near the head of a comet, but also in its tail. This theory was based on the position according to which the tails consist of particles emitted from the nucleus of a comet in the direction of the Sun and then begin to move away from the Sun under the action of its repulsive forces. In 1877, Bredikhin created a classification of comet tails that is still in use today. It is noteworthy that this classification appeared at a time when the nature of the interplanetary medium had not yet been clarified, and there was practically no information about the comets themselves. According to Bredikhin, Type I tails point directly away from the Sun. It has now been established that they are plasma and consist of ions that are carried away from the cometary nucleus by the solar wind. Type II tails are curved and tilt back with respect to the comet's orbital motion. They are formed by dust particles continuously escaping from the core and accelerating under the action of light pressure. Type III tails appear when the dust ejection from the core acquires the character of an explosion: a cloud of dust particles is stretched due to the fact that dust particles of different sizes receive different accelerations under the action of light pressure. Bredikhin was also one of the few who observed the spectra of comet heads at that time.

Bredikhin's work on meteor astronomy was a natural continuation of the research on comets. The scientist developed the theory put forward by J. Schiaparelli of the formation of meteor showers as a result of the decay of cometary nuclei. To accumulate observational data, he organized systematic observations of meteors. The results obtained by him in 1874–1903 were presented and generalized in the work Studies on the origin of cosmic meteors and the formation of their streams (1903).

Bredikhin also worked in many other areas of astrophysics. With his direct participation, systematic observations of the solar chromosphere began with the help of a prominence microscope, photographing sunspots and flares, and studying variable stars and planetary nebulae. The scientist contributed to instrumental optics and gravimetry. Of great interest was his article on the history of astronomy Galileo process according to new data(1871). In it, based on a thorough independent analysis of archival data, it was concluded that the Inquisition had forged documents substantiating the accusation against Galileo. Bredikhin participated in the creation of the Moscow Mathematical Society (1864), in 1886-1890 he was president of the Society of Naturalists, was a member of the Russian Astronomical Society, was a full member of the German Academy of Nature Researchers "Leopoldina", etc.

He came from an old noble family of hereditary sailors - the son of a captain-lieutenant of the fleet. He was the eldest of nine children (6 brothers and 3 sisters) of Alexander Fedorovich and Antonina Ivanovna Bredikhin. He spent his childhood on his father's estate in the village. Salonikh near Kherson. He owed his early awakening of a penchant for mathematics and the natural sciences to his first tutor and home teacher - the former director of the Kherson gymnasium Z. I. Sokolovsky.

From 1845 he studied at a boarding school at the Richelieu Lyceum; since 1849 he has been a lyceum student, graduating with a gold medal in 1851. Since 1851, he has been a student at Moscow University, where he was one of the students of Professor Spassky M. F.: 733; in 1855 Bredikhin graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics; in his last years, under the influence of professor of astronomy A. N. Drashusov, he chose astronomy as his specialty and was left at the university for two years to prepare for a professorship.

Bredikhin's activities for many years were associated with Moscow University, where already in 1857 he was appointed acting adjunct in the department of astronomy. In 1862 he defended his master's thesis: "On the tails of comets", in 1865 - his doctoral dissertation: "On perturbations of comets that do not depend on planetary attraction." Since 1863 he has been an extraordinary professor, since 1865 an ordinary professor. Between September 1867 - March 1868. was in Italy, where he got acquainted with the work of the Society of Italian Spectroscopy; communicated with A. Secchi, J. Schiaparelli and others. In -1876 he was the dean of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University. Since 1882 - Honored Professor of Moscow University. V -- director of the university observatory . Created the "Moscow Astrophysical School". In -1895, F. A. Bredikhin was the director of the Pulkovo Observatory; in this post, he opened the doors of the observatory wide for Russian astronomers.

Scientific interests

Bredikhin's research covers almost all the main branches of astronomy of that time. He observed with exceptional accuracy on the meridian circle, measured the positions of minor planets on a refractor with a micrometer, investigated the errors of the micrometric screw and the so-called personal errors of the observer. With his direct participation, systematic observations of the solar chromosphere with a prominence spectroscope, photography of sunspots and torches, and studies of the surface of the Moon and the planets Mars and Jupiter began. In 1875, among the first, following W. Hoggins, he began studying the chemical composition of radiating gaseous nebulae. He made a significant contribution to other areas - from instrumental optics to gravimetry. However, the main direction of his research was the study of comets, which began as early as 1858. He developed and improved Bessel's theory, created the most complete at that time "mechanical theory of cometary forms", which made it possible to describe the movement of matter not only near the head, but also in the tail of a comet. This theory was based on the position that the tails of comets consist of particles that fly out of the nucleus of a comet in the direction of the Sun and then begin to move away from the Sun under the action of its repulsive forces. Bredikhin determined the acceleration values ​​for several dozen comet tails, which allowed him in 1877 to create their classification, according to which comet tails are divided into three main types. In 1884, he also identified a fourth type of tails (anomalous), which is rare and only in combination with normal. Bredikhin's classification of cometary forms has been preserved to this day. Based on his theory, Bredikhin made a number of conclusions about the chemical composition of the tails of various comets, but they were not confirmed. He was one of the first to study the spectra of comet heads. He developed and expanded the theory put forward by J. Schiaparelli of the formation of meteor showers as a result of the decay of the cometary nucleus. The results of these studies were published in "Etudes on the Origin of Cosmic Meteors and the Formation of Their Streams" ().

Conducted a great social activity. He was president of the Moscow Society of Naturalists (1886-1890), a member of the Russian Astronomical Society (and its chairman in 1891-1893), a member of the Russian Geographical Society, a full member of the Leopoldino-Royal Academy of Sciences in Halle (1883), a corresponding member of the London Royal Astronomical and the Liverpool Astronomical Society (1884), the Society of Italian Spectroscopy (1889), a corresponding member of the Bureau of Longitudes in Paris (1894), an honorary member of Moscow University (1897), etc.

For outstanding achievements in the field of astronomy, the F. A. Bredikhin Prize was established.

Addresses

• until 1890 - Moscow, Potapovsky lane, building 6.
• 1899 - May 1, 1904 - St. Petersburg, Pushkinskaya street, house 14, apt. 6.

Memory

• A minor planet (786) Bredikhina, discovered by Franz Kaiser on 20 April 1914 in Heidelberg, Germany, is named after Bredikhin.
• In 1970, a crater on the Moon was named after Fyodor Aleksandrovich Bredikhin.
• Postage stamps dedicated to F. A. Bredikhin were issued in the USSR.

Stamp of USSR 1958.jpg

Postage stamp "125 years since the birth", 1956

Bibliography

• On comet tails. - M .: In Univ. type., 1862. - III, 223 p.
• Perturbations of comets, originating from the resistance of the ether. - M., 1863.
• Outpouring of matter from the nucleus of a large comet in 1862. - M .: In Univ. type., 1864. - 21 p.
• Comet perturbations independent of planetary attraction. - M., 1864.
• Drawings of the comet Kojia and its spectrum. - M., 1874.
• . - M .: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1954. - 606 p. - (Classics of science). - 3,000 copies.

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Notes

Literature

• Andreev A. Yu. . History of the Imperial Moscow University. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
• Bredikhin, Fedor Alexandrovich // Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / ch. ed. A. M. Prokhorov. - 3rd ed. - M. : Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
• Siegel F. Yu. Fedor Alexandrovich Bredikhin: His life and work. - M .: Gostekhizdat, 1957. - 152 p. - (People of Russian science). - 15,000 copies.(reg.)
• Kolchinsky I.G., Korsun A.A., Rodriguez M.G. Astronomers: A Biographical Guide. - 2nd ed., revised. and additional .. - Kyiv: Naukova Dumka, 1986. - 512 p.
• Nevskaya N.I. Fedor Alexandrovich Bredikhin, 1831-1904. - M.-L. : Nauka, 1964. - 255 p. - (Scientific and biographical series).
• Volkov V. A., Kulikova M. V. Moscow professors of the 18th - early 20th centuries. Natural and technical sciences. - M .: Janus-K; Moscow textbooks and cartolithography, 2003. - S. 38-39. - 294 p. - 2,000 copies. - ISBN 5-8037-0164-5.

Links

• on the official website of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• on the All-Russian Genealogical Tree website

An excerpt characterizing Bredikhin, Fedor Alexandrovich

They named the colonel, Prince Repnin.
- Are you the commander of the cavalry regiment of Emperor Alexander? Napoleon asked.
“I commanded a squadron,” answered Repnin.
“Your regiment honestly fulfilled its duty,” said Napoleon.
“The praise of a great commander is the best reward for a soldier,” said Repnin.
“I give it to you with pleasure,” said Napoleon. Who is this young man next to you?
Prince Repnin named Lieutenant Sukhtelen.
Looking at him, Napoleon said, smiling:
- II est venu bien jeune se frotter a nous. [He came young to compete with us.]
“Youth does not interfere with being brave,” Sukhtelen said in a broken voice.
“A fine answer,” said Napoleon. “Young man, you will go far!”
Prince Andrei, for the sake of completeness of the trophy of the captives, was also put forward, in front of the emperor, could not help but attract his attention. Napoleon, apparently, remembered that he had seen him on the field and, addressing him, used the very name of the young man - jeune homme, under which Bolkonsky was first reflected in his memory.
– Et vous, jeune homme? Well, what about you, young man? - he turned to him, - how do you feel, mon brave?
Despite the fact that five minutes before this, Prince Andrei could say a few words to the soldiers who carried him, he now, directly fixing his eyes on Napoleon, was silent ... All the interests that occupied Napoleon seemed so insignificant to him at that moment, seemed so petty to him his hero himself, with this petty vanity and joy of victory, in comparison with that high, just and kind sky that he saw and understood - that he could not answer him.
Yes, and everything seemed so useless and insignificant in comparison with that strict and majestic structure of thought, which caused in him a weakening of forces from the flow of blood, suffering and the imminent expectation of death. Looking into Napoleon's eyes, Prince Andrei thought about the insignificance of greatness, the insignificance of life, which no one could understand the meaning of, and the even greater insignificance of death, the meaning of which no one could understand and explain from the living.
The emperor, without waiting for an answer, turned away and, driving off, turned to one of the chiefs:
“Let them take care of these gentlemen and take them to my bivouac; have my doctor Larrey examine their wounds. Goodbye, Prince Repnin, - and he, having touched the horse, galloped on.
There was a radiance of self-satisfaction and happiness on his face.
The soldiers who brought Prince Andrei and removed from him the golden icon that they came across, hung on his brother by Princess Marya, seeing the kindness with which the emperor treated the prisoners, hastened to return the icon.
Prince Andrei did not see who and how put it on again, but on his chest, over and above his uniform, suddenly appeared a small icon on a small gold chain.
“It would be nice,” thought Prince Andrei, looking at this icon, which his sister hung on him with such feeling and reverence, “it would be nice if everything was as clear and simple as it seems to Princess Marya. How good it would be to know where to look for help in this life and what to expect after it, there, beyond the grave! How happy and calm I would be if I could say now: Lord, have mercy on me!... But to whom shall I say this! Either the power - indefinite, incomprehensible, which I not only cannot address, but which I cannot express in words - great everything or nothing, - he said to himself, - or this is the God who is sewn up here, in this palm, Princess Mary? Nothing, nothing is true, except for the insignificance of everything that is clear to me, and the greatness of something incomprehensible, but the most important!
The stretcher moved. At every push he again felt unbearable pain; the feverish state intensified, and he began to become delirious. Those dreams of a father, wife, sister and future son and the tenderness that he experienced on the night before the battle, the figure of a small, insignificant Napoleon and above all the high sky, constituted the main basis of his feverish ideas.
A quiet life and calm family happiness in the Bald Mountains seemed to him. He was already enjoying this happiness, when suddenly little Napoleon appeared with his indifferent, limited and happy look from the misfortune of others, and doubts, torments began, and only heaven promised peace. By morning all the dreams were mixed up and merged into chaos and darkness of unconsciousness and oblivion, which, in the opinion of Larrey himself, Dr. Napoleon, were much more likely to be resolved by death than by recovery.
- C "est un sujet nerveux et bilieux," said Larrey, "il n" en rechappera pas. [This man is nervous and bilious, he will not recover.]
Prince Andrei, among other hopelessly wounded, was handed over to the care of the inhabitants.

At the beginning of 1806, Nikolai Rostov returned on vacation. Denisov was also going home to Voronezh, and Rostov persuaded him to go with him to Moscow and stay at their house. At the penultimate station, having met a comrade, Denisov drank three bottles of wine with him and, approaching Moscow, despite the bumps in the road, did not wake up, lying at the bottom of the sledge, near Rostov, which, as it approached Moscow, came more and more into impatience.
“Soon? Is it soon? Oh, these unbearable streets, shops, rolls, lanterns, cabbies! thought Rostov, when they had already written down their holidays at the outpost and drove into Moscow.
- Denisov, come! Asleep! he said, leaning forward with his whole body, as if by this position he hoped to speed up the movement of the sleigh. Denisov did not respond.
- Here is the corner of the crossroads where Zakhar the cab driver is standing; here he is and Zakhar, and still the same horse. Here is the shop where the gingerbread was bought. Is it soon? Well!
- Which house is that? asked the coachman.
- Yes, at the end, to the big one, how can you not see! This is our house, - said Rostov, - after all, this is our house! Denisov! Denisov! We'll come now.
Denisov raised his head, cleared his throat, and said nothing.
“Dmitry,” Rostov turned to the lackey in the box. “Is this our fire?”
- So exactly with and with daddy in the office glows.
- Haven't gone to bed yet? BUT? how do you think? Look, don’t forget, get me a new Hungarian at once, ”added Rostov, feeling his new mustache. “Come on, let’s go,” he shouted to the driver. “Wake up, Vasya,” he turned to Denisov, who lowered his head again. - Come on, let's go, three rubles for vodka, let's go! Rostov shouted when the sleigh was already three houses from the entrance. It seemed to him that the horses were not moving. Finally the sleigh was taken to the right to the entrance; above his head, Rostov saw a familiar cornice with broken plaster, a porch, a sidewalk pillar. He jumped out of the sleigh on the move and ran into the passage. The house also stood motionless, unfriendly, as if it didn't care who came to it. There was no one in the vestibule. "My God! is everything all right?" thought Rostov, stopping for a minute with a sinking heart, and at once starting to run further along the passage and the familiar, crooked steps. The same doorknob of the castle, for the uncleanliness of which the countess was angry, also weakly opened. A single tallow candle burned in the hallway.
Old man Mikhail was sleeping on the chest. Prokofy, the visiting lackey, the one who was so strong that he lifted the carriage by the back, sat and knitted bast shoes from the hems. He glanced at the open door, and his indifferent, sleepy expression suddenly changed into ecstatic fright.
- Fathers, lights! Count young! he exclaimed, recognizing the young master. – What is it? My dove! - And Prokofy, shaking with excitement, rushed to the door to the living room, probably in order to announce, but apparently changed his mind again, returned back and leaned on the shoulder of the young master.
– Healthy? Rostov asked, pulling his hand away from him.
- Thank God! All thanks to God! just ate now! Let me see you, Your Excellency!
- Is everything all right?
- Thank God, thank God!
Rostov, completely forgetting about Denisov, not wanting to let anyone warn him, threw off his fur coat and ran on tiptoe into a dark, large hall. Everything is the same, the same card tables, the same chandelier in a case; but someone had already seen the young gentleman, and before he had time to run to the living room, something swiftly, like a storm, flew out of the side door and hugged and began to kiss him. Another, third, similar creature jumped out of another, third door; More hugs, more kisses, more cries, more tears of joy. He could not make out where and who is dad, who is Natasha, who is Petya. Everyone was screaming and talking and kissing him at the same time. Only his mother was not among them - he remembered that.
- But I didn’t know ... Nikolushka ... my friend!
- Here he is ... ours ... My friend, Kolya ... He has changed! No candles! Tea!
- Kiss me then!
- Darling ... but me.
Sonya, Natasha, Petya, Anna Mikhailovna, Vera, the old count, embraced him; and people and maids, having filled the rooms, sentenced and gasped.
Petya hung on his feet. - And then me! he shouted. Natasha, after she, having bent him to her, kissed his whole face, jumped away from him and holding on to the floor of his Hungarian, jumped like a goat all in one place and squealed piercingly.
From all sides there were tears of joy shining with tears, loving eyes, from all sides there were lips looking for a kiss.
Sonya, red as red, also held on to his hand and beamed all over in a blissful look fixed on his eyes, which she was waiting for. Sonya was already 16 years old, and she was very beautiful, especially at this moment of happy, enthusiastic animation. She looked at him, not taking her eyes off, smiling and holding her breath. He looked at her gratefully; but still waiting and looking for someone. The old countess hasn't come out yet. And then there were footsteps at the door. The steps are so fast that they couldn't have been his mother's.
But it was she in a new dress, unfamiliar to him, sewn without him. Everyone left him and he ran to her. When they came together, she fell on his chest sobbing. She could not raise her face and only pressed him against the cold laces of his Hungarian coat. Denisov, not noticed by anyone, entered the room, stood right there and, looking at them, rubbed his eyes.
“Vasily Denisov, your son’s friend,” he said, introducing himself to the count, who looked at him inquiringly.
- Welcome. I know, I know,” said the count, kissing and hugging Denisov. - Nikolushka wrote ... Natasha, Vera, here he is Denisov.
The same happy, enthusiastic faces turned to the shaggy figure of Denisov and surrounded him.
- My dear, Denisov! - Natasha squealed, beside herself with delight, jumped up to him, hugged and kissed him. Everyone was embarrassed by Natasha's act. Denisov also blushed, but smiled and took Natasha's hand and kissed it.
Denisov was taken to the room prepared for him, and the Rostovs all gathered in the sofa near Nikolushka.
The old countess, without letting go of his hand, which she kissed every minute, sat next to him; the rest, crowding around them, caught his every movement, word, glance, and did not take their eyes off him with enthusiastic love. The brother and sisters argued and intercepted places from each other closer to him, and fought over who would bring him tea, a handkerchief, a pipe.

Astrophysics is a branch of astronomy that deals with the study of the physical nature of various celestial bodies. Although individual astrophysical observations of celestial bodies have been made in Russia since the time of Peter the Great, astrophysics as a whole as a science did not yet exist. The great Russian astronomer Fyodor Alexandrovich Bredikhin (1831-1904) is rightfully considered the founder of Russian astrophysics.

The first period of his work was spent at the Moscow Observatory, where, in essence, astrophysics was born for the first time in Russia.

The Moscow observatory began its existence in 1831. It was built on the outskirts of Moscow in a then sparsely populated area on the "three mountains" near Presnenskaya Zastava. The observatory was equipped with the latest astronomical instruments, including a four-inch telescope with accessories, which was replaced in 1859 by a 10-inch refractor.

With extraordinary perseverance and diligence, Bredikhin for eleven years, starting in 1859, observed the Sun every day in clear weather, sketching giant protrusions of hot gases (prominences) .. His observations of the surfaces of Mars and Jupiter were of great importance. Bredikhin carefully studied the famous "red spot" in the atmosphere of Jupiter, the nature of which remains mysterious to this day. But Bredikhin's work in the field of the study of comets, which brought him worldwide fame, is of particular importance. Comets, these "tailed stars" that terrified our distant ancestors, became the subject of careful study in Bredikhin's time. By the beginning of Bredikhin's work on comets, it was known that comets are celestial bodies moving around the Suns along certain orbits (paths). These orbits are, in most cases, very elongated ellipses of enormous size, due to which the periods of revolution of comets around the Sun can be calculated in thousands and tens of thousands of years.

In every comet, in addition to a rarefied head and tail, there is a solid core, which, when approaching the Sun, emits particles that form a tail. Finally, it was known that the particles forming the tails of comets are affected not only by forces of attraction to the Sun, but also by repulsive forces of an unknown nature emanating from the Sun. To this we can add that by the time of Bredikhin's activity, a lot of various information about comets had accumulated, requiring generalized conclusions. A unified theory of comets and the phenomena occurring in them did not yet exist in those days.

While working at the Moscow Observatory, Bredikhin undertook a thorough study of 50 comets. He calculated the speeds of particles in the comet's tail, as well as the magnitude of the repulsive force emanating from the Sun, for various comets. It turned out that despite all the variety of comet tails, they can be divided into three main types. To the first type, Bredikhin attributed the tails, in which the repulsive forces emanating from the Sun are tens of times greater than the force of its attraction. These are almost rectilinear tails directed away from the Sun along the straight line connecting the Sun with the comet's nucleus.

Bredikhin referred to tails of the second type those tails, in each of which the repulsive forces are from 0.5 to 2.2 times greater than the force of attraction to the Sun. These tails look like twisted braids directed away from the Sun and bent in the direction opposite to the comet's motion.

Finally, Bredikhin classified the third type as short rectilinear tails, strongly deviated from the straight line connecting the Sun with the comet's nucleus; in these tails, the repulsive forces only slightly exceed the force of attraction to the Sun.

Despite the absence at that time of exact data on the composition of cometary tails, Bredikhin made the absolutely correct conclusion that the difference in the types of cometary tails is due to the difference in their composition.

Bredikhin did not limit himself to a simple classification of comet tails. For the first time in the history of astronomy, he created and developed in detail a mechanical theory of phenomena occurring in comets. This theory, which explains the observable forms of comets quite correctly in its main features, is the basis of modern cometary astronomy.

The nature of the repulsive forces acting in cometary tails became known after the work of the great Russian physicist P. N. Lebedev, who at the beginning of this century proved that the rays of any light, including solar light, exert pressure on illuminated bodies. Consequently, the repulsive forces acting in cometary tails are the pressure forces of the sun's rays.

Bredikhin's work on the origin of meteors is of great importance. "Shooting stars" or meteors are small solid particles invading from world space into our earthly atmosphere. Under the influence of air resistance, these particles are heated, emitting light, and are destroyed. If their sizes are small enough, then they do not reach the earth's surface, being completely dispersed in the atmosphere.

Bredikhin considered meteors to be the decay product of comets. In some comets, he discovered the so-called anomalous (abnormal) tails, which were cone-shaped protrusions directed from the nucleus of comets to the Sun. According to Bredikhin, these tails consist of a swarm of small solid particles into which a solid cometary nucleus has broken up.

Indeed, as we now know, the nuclei of comets, when colliding with celestial meteorite stones, are destroyed, forming a swarm of meteoroids, trailing after the comet along its orbit.

Thus, Bredikhin was not only the founder of astrophysics in Russia, but also created, in essence, a new branch of astronomy - cometary astronomy.

Bredikhin's research attracted the attention of the entire scientific world, and in 1877 the Russian Academy of Sciences elected Bredikhin its corresponding member. In subsequent years, a number of foreign scientific societies elect Bredikhin as their honorary member. "In 1890, F. A. Bredikhin was elected a full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and appointed director of the Pulkovo Observatory.

Having assumed this high post, Bredikhin led an uncompromising struggle against foreign dominance in Russian science. The fact is that in those days in Pulkovo, as in other scientific institutions, there were quite a few foreigners, in particular Germans, who occupied responsible positions. That is why the report of F. A. Bredikhin on the work of the Pulkovo Observatory for 1891 says:

“At the very moment I entered the management of the observatory, it was an indisputable truth for me that the theoretically educated students of all Russian universities, who feel and declared their vocation for astronomy, should be given, within the limits of possibility, free access to complete practical improvement in this science, and then to the occupation of all scientific positions at the observatory.

This patriotic plan was carried out by Bredikhin in the very first years of his work at Pulkovo. A number of foreigners and "officials from science" were expelled from the Pulkovo Observatory, and in their place Bredikhin nominated young talented Russian astronomers, of whom Aristarkh Apollonovich Belopolsky later became especially famous.

Bredikhin widely developed astrophysical research, in particular, systematic observations of sunspots and prominences. The equipment of the Pulkovo observatory was supplemented with new astrophysical instruments, in particular, the so-called stellar spectrograph, for studying the composition of stars, and a special telescope with a camera, an astrograph, designed to photograph celestial bodies.

Despite the short term of tenure as director (5 years), Bredikhin managed to firmly establish the Astrophysical Department at Pulkovo, which continues fruitful work to this day. Bredikhin devoted the last 9 years of his life to theoretical research, mainly in the field of cometary astronomy.

F. A. Bredikhin was an advanced Russian scientist who fought in every possible way against any blind admiration for foreigners. He opposed any idealistic trends in science, being on a par with the great Russian biologist Timiryazev, the great Russian physicist Stoletov and other progressive Russian scientists.

“Every time a heavenly wanderer (i.e. a comet) descends from the depths of the starry vault to us, a huge circle of people in all corners of the globe will repeat the glorious name of Bredikhin.”