Ekaterina N. Makarenko

Ukraine

1929-1985

Obituary:

In 1953 she graduated from the Department of Mathematics of the Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences of the Odessa State University, and then she was hired by the University Astronomical Observatory. In 1970 she defended her PhD thesis “Long-period Cepheids and some questions of the Galactic structure”. She published about 45 papers.

Research fields: Cepheids, photometry

A great contribution to the study of Cepheids was made by E.N. Makarenko. From the classical Cepheids she isolated and studied a group of the small-amplitude Cepheids with almost sinusoidal light curves, the so called s-Cepheids (Cs). She showed that these stars are concentrated in the direction to the Galactic spiral arms, both in our Galaxy and in the galaxy M31. As a result of this study, she came to the conclusion that gas and dust masses are detached from spiral arms.

E.N. Makarenko was responsible for many years for the storage and distribution of the results of photoelectric observation of variable stars. These data, in accordance with the decision of the 27th Commission of IAU, flowed into Odessa Observatory, constituting its Depository. Thus, Odessa Observatory has become one of the world’s centers storing such data. The second similar center was located in London.

Information prepared by S.M. Andrievsky.