I.S. Shklovsky and modern radio astronomy

Abstract

Iosif Samuilovich Shklovsky is one of the founders of radio astronomy as a leading branch in the modern science. Under his leadership in 1953 the Radio Astronomy Department was formed at the Sternberg Astronomical Institute of Moscow State University. Shklovsky's research covered a large variety of topics in radio astronomy, space research, solar physics, X-ray astronomy, etc. In this contribution, Shklovsky's life story is reviewed, including the famous expedition to Brazil for radio observations of the solar eclipse. His main works are presented, such as the prediction of the possibility of observing the 21 cm radio line of neutral hydrogen in the interstellar medium together with some molecular radio lines, the explanation of the spectrum of the Crab Nebula in the optical and radio ranges by a unified synchrotron mechanism, and his studies on the radio emission of the solar corona, including the explanation of drifting solar radio bursts by a plasma mechanism. Other research achievements are reviewed, ...