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, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

and a

discoverer of minor planets This is a list of minor-planet discoverers credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of one or several minor planets (such as near-Earth and main-belt asteroids, Jupiter trojans and distant objects). , the discovery of 612,011 nu ...

and

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 ...

s. He is credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 45

minor planet According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''mino ...

s during 1988–1991, all in collaboration with astronomer Hiroshi Mori. On 5 January 1991, he has also discovered Comet Arai, .British Astronomical Association (2008). British Astronomical Association circular. The main-belt asteroid 21082 Araimasaru, discovered by Tsutomu Hioki and Shuji Hayakawa at Okutama in 1991, was named in his honor. Naming citation was published on 6 January 2003 ().

List of discovered minor planets

References

External links

Yorii Observatory, instruments and discoveries

IAUC 5157, 7 January 1991

IAUC 5170, 18 January 1991 1952 births Discoverers of asteroids * 20th-century Japanese astronomers Living people {{japan-astronomer-stub