was the first
Japanese
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 ...
to discover an
asteroid. In 1900 he discovered
498 Tokio
Tokio ( minor planet designation: 498 Tokio) (1902 KU) is a main-belt asteroid discovered on 2 December 1902 by Auguste Charlois
Auguste Honoré Charlois (November 26, 1864 – March 26, 1910) was a French astronomer who discovered 99 astero ...
and
727 Nipponia
727 Nipponia is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. It is a member of the Maria family of asteroids.
''Nipponia'' was originally discovered by Shin Hirayama in Tokyo on March 6, 1900. However, he was not able to determine its orbit. After it was ...
.
The crater
Hirayama on the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
is jointly named after him and
Kiyotsugu Hirayama
was a Japanese astronomer, best known for his discovery that many asteroid orbits were more similar to one another than chance would allow, leading to the concept of asteroid families, now called " Hirayama families" in his honour.
Biography
...
.
References
External links
月の命名は?at www12.plala.or.jp (in Japanese)
1868 births
1945 deaths
19th-century Japanese astronomers
University of Tokyo faculty
University of Tokyo alumni
20th-century Japanese astronomers
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