Elena V. Pitjeva facts for kids

Elena Vladimirovna Pitjeva is a Russian astronomer. She works at the Institute of Applied Astronomy in St. Petersburg, Russia. She has written many articles about how planets and other objects move in space.

Elena Pitjeva started her career as an engineer at an observatory in Armenia. Later, she worked at the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy. Since 1988, she has been at the Institute of Applied Astronomy. Today, she leads the team that creates special maps of where planets will be in the future. These maps are called ephemerides.

What She Studies

Elena Pitjeva's main work is creating very accurate maps of the planets' paths. She also helps figure out the exact weight (mass) of planets and asteroids. Her research also looks at how planets spin and what their surfaces are like. She even studies the Sun's outer layer and tests Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity.

She is one of the people who created the "Ephemerides of Planets and the Moon" (EPM). This project started a long time ago, in the 1970s. The EPM maps are so good that a version of them has been used in the Russian Astronomical Yearbook since 2006. Newer versions are even available for other scientists to use.

Important Discoveries

Elena Pitjeva's work has helped other scientists test new ideas about gravity in our Solar System. She has also helped us understand how asteroids and objects beyond Neptune affect the movement of planets.

She worked with another scientist, E. Myles Standish. Together, they suggested new, very precise values for important numbers in astronomy. These include the masses of the three biggest asteroids and the distance from the Earth to the Sun (called the astronomical unit). The International Astronomical Union, a big group of astronomers, accepted these values in 2009. This shows how important her work is to astronomy worldwide.

Elena Pitjeva is also a member of the International Astronomical Union. She helps lead groups that study ephemerides and how relativity affects astronomy.

Her Education

Elena Pitjeva studied astronomy at Saint Petersburg State University and finished in 1972. She earned her PhD in 1994. Her PhD work focused on making planet maps better using radar observations. In 2005, she earned a higher degree called Doctor of Science. This degree is one of the highest science degrees in Russia. Her work for this degree was about creating very precise maps of the major planets.