View source for Fesenkov Astrophysical Institute

'''Fesenkov Astrophysical Institute''' (Астрофизический институт имени В. Г. Фесенкова, АФИФ), or '''APHI''', is a research institute in [[Almaty|Almaty, Kazakhstan]]. The institute was founded in 1941 under the name Institute for Astronomy and Physics of the Kazakh branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, when a group of Soviet astronomers was evacuated during [[World War II]] from the European parts of the USSR to Almaty. In 1948 [[Gavriil Adrianovich Tikhov|G.A. Tikhov]] had organized an independent sector of [[astrobotany]], and in 1950 astronomers established the Astrophysical Institute of the Kazakh SSR. In 1989 the Institute was renamed after [[Vasily Fesenkov]], one of its founders.

APHI conducts both [[observation#observation in science|observational]] and theoretical research. The prime objects of observations are the [[Sun]], [[outer planets]], [[comets]], [[Herbig Ae/Be stars]], and [[active galaxy|active galaxies]]. The topics of theoretical research include [[stellar dynamics]] and [[computational astrophysics]], [[active galactic nuclei]], [[cosmology]], physics of comets and [[interstellar medium]]. The institute runs three observational bases in mountains near Almaty: [[Kamenskoe Plateau Observatory]], [[Assy-Turgen Observatory]] and [[Tian-Shan Observatory]].

APHI is a member of the [[International Astronomical Union]].

== Interesting facts ==
* The comet [[67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko]], famous for the [[Rosetta (spacecraft)|Rosetta]] mission, was discovered at Fesenkov Astrophysical Institute.
* APHI was one of the first institutions where a new branch of science - [[astrobiology]] - was born in the middle of the twentieth century.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Tejfel|first=V.|date=August 2009|title=Gavriil Adrianovich Tikhov (1875–1960), a pioneer in astrobiology|format=|journal=Highlights of Astronomy|volume=15|issue=|pages=:720–1.|doi=10.1017/S1743921310011166|pmid=|coauthors=}}<!--|accessdate=2015-01-11--></ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Briot|first=D.|date=2013|title=The Creator of Astrobotany, Gavriil Adrianovich Tikhov|format=|journal=Astrobiology, History, and Society (edited by D.&nbsp;A.&nbsp;Vakoch)|volume=|issue=|pages=:175–185.|doi=10.1007/978-3-642-35983-5_8|pmid=|coauthors=}}<!--|accessdate=2015-01-11--></ref>

== External links ==
* [http://www.aphi.kz/ Homepage of Fesenkov Astrophysical Institute]

==References==
{{reflist}}

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[[Category:Astrophysics institutes]]
[[Category:Almaty]]