is a Japanese amateur

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

. He co-discovered several

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

s, including C/1968 H1 (Tago-Honda-Yamamoto), C/1969 T1 (Tago-Sato-Kosaka), C/1987 B1 (Nishikawa-Takamizawa-Tago). At the Satsuki Observatory established in 1996, Tago has supported and encouraged amateur astronomers in

Yanahara, Okayama was a town located in Kume District, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the town had an estimated population of 6,793 and a density of 88.13 persons per km2. The total area was 77.08 km2. On March 22, 2005, Yanahara, along with the to ...

. Asteroid 7830 Akihikotago was named to honor his dedication. He also discovered several

nova A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...

s, includin
V1493 Aql
(Nova Aquilae 1999)
V2275 Cyg
(Nova Cygni 2001 no. 2)
V574 Pup
(Nova Puppis 2004)
V2467 Cyg
(Nova Cygni 2007) an
V459 Vul
(Nova Vulpeculae 2007 no.2). In 2006 he was the first astronomer to discover a micro-lensing system outside the

Magellanic Clouds The Magellanic Clouds (''Magellanic system'' or ''Nubeculae Magellani'') are two irregular dwarf galaxies in the southern celestial hemisphere. Orbiting the Milky Way galaxy, these satellite galaxies are members of the Local Group. Because both ...

and the bulge of our

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...

. The star GSC 3656-1328 suddenly brightened by four magnitudes in two weeks time and returned to its normal brightness two weeks later. A red or a brown dwarf star passed exactly in front of GSC 3656-1328 and the gravity of the dwarf star directed more light to the observers on Earth. He lives in

Tsuyama, Okayama is a city in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 102,294 and a population density of 200 persons per km². The total area was 185.73 km². The area increased in 2005 as the result of a merger with adjacent to ...

Publications

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Awards

References

1932 births Living people 20th-century Japanese astronomers Discoverers of comets Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Japanese astronomers {{japan-astronomer-stub