Elma Parsamyan

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Elma Sureni Parsamyan is a Soviet and Armenian astrophysicist and astronomer who works at the Byurakan Observatory as the principal research associate of a scientific group. She was born in Yerevan on December 23, 1929. After moving to Moscow with her father, she studied at Moscow School No. 213 from 1938 to 1941. There she discovered a love for astronomy and decided to become an astronomer. From 1949 to 1954 she studied at the Astronomy Department of the Physics and Mathematics Faculty at Yerevan State University, graduating with a degree in Astrophysics. She joined the staff of the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory and stayed there. In 1961 she earned a Ph.D. in Physical‑Mathematical Sciences, and in 1963 became Doctor of Physical‑Mathematical Sciences. She achieved the rank of professor in 1989, and in 2000 she was elected as a corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. Her main research areas include variable stars, galactic nebulae, and archaeoastronomy.