Pelageya Shajn

Who was Pelageya Shajn?

Pelageya Fedorovna Shajn née Sannikova was a Soviet/Russian astronomer. In modern English transliteration, her surname would be given as Shayn, but her astronomical discoveries are credited under the name P. F. Shajn. Nonetheless, her last name is sometimes given as Schajn, and her first name sometimes as Pelageja.

She was the wife of Grigory Abramovich Shajn, who was also a Russian astronomer. Her maiden name was Sannikova.

She co-discovered the periodic comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach. However, the non-periodic comet C/1925 F1, also known as Comet 1925 VI or Comet 1925a, was co-discovered by her husband rather than by her.

She also discovered numerous asteroids and about 150 variable stars.