Krasinsky G. A. (1939–2011): From Classical Celestial Mechanics to High-Precision Relativistic Numerical Theories of Motion of the Solar System Bodies

M. V. Vasilyev, E. I. Yagudina

Transactions of IAA RAS, issue 63, 28–38 (2022)

DOI: 10.32876/ApplAstron.63.28-38

Keywords: history of astronomy, celestial mechanics, ephemeris astronomy, ephemeris of Solar System bodies, space geodesy, very long baseline radio interferometry (VLBI)

Abstract

Georgy Albertovich Krasinsky belonged to that scientists who made Soviet and then Russian science advanced, competitive and interesting for leading researchers around the world. Having received his education at the Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics of the Leningrad State University named after A.A. Zhdanov, Krasinsky was engaged in research in the field of classical celestial mechanics for a long time, where he performed a number of the best works, the results of which are in demand even now. The onset of the space age, a sharp jump in the accuracy of astronomical observations caused by the rapid development of technology, led Krasinsky to the realization that the methods of classical celestial mechanics and astrometry cannot cope with the processing of modern measurements and are not able to ensure the accuracy of the ephemerides of the Solar System bodies at the level of new requirements. As a result, under his leadership and with his active participation, the ERA (Ephemeris Research in Astronomy) software system was created, which became the basis for all subsequent work at the Institute of Applied Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IAA RAS) to process modern high-precision measurements and create relativistic numerical theories of the orbital-rotational motion of the bodies of the solar system. Working at the IAA RAS, Georgy Albertovich could not help but deal with the issues of fundamental positioning, navigation and timing support, becoming one of the active participants in the creation of the Quasar radio interferometric network. In the last years of his life, he developed a numerical theory of the rotation of a deformable Earth with a liquid core and a theory of the evolution of the rotational motion of the Earth and the Moon's orbit.

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