(born 1961) is a Japanese
astronomer. He is a prolific observer of
asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere.
...
s and
comets, as well as a
discoverer of minor planets. He has worked extensively at the
Kuma Kogen Astronomical Observatory
The Kuma Kogen Astronomical Observatory ( Obs. code: 360) is located at Kumakōgen in Ehime Prefecture, Japan.
The observatory is in the Furusato Country Open Air Museum that incorporates the Seiten Castle (''sei ten'' means "fine weather" a ...
near
Kuma,
Ehime Prefecture, where he remains a staff member. His observations of asteroid brightness are well known.
Career
Nakamura is also member of the
Yamaneko Group of Comet Observers The Yamaneko Group of Comet Observers (YGCO) is a famous group of astronomical observers based in Japan. Founded by K. Ichikawa in 1980, the members have obtained approximately 12,300 astronomic and 6,300 photometric observations.23644 Yamanekssd.j ...
. He named
main-belt asteroid
44711 Carp for his favorite
baseball team, the
Hiroshima Carp, and named
9081 Hideakianno after Japanese animation and film director,
Hideaki Anno.
Awards and honors
The asteroid
10633 Akimasa
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...
,
10633 Akimasa at NASA JPL Small-Body Database
accessed 4 August 2007 orbiting between Mars and Jupiter, is named after him and was named in 1999 to coincide with his becoming a father.
List of discovered minor planets
See also
*
References
External links
Kuma Kogen Astronomical Observatory
- English version
20th-century Japanese astronomers
Discoverers of asteroids
*
Living people
1961 births
21st-century Japanese astronomers
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