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 ...
and an outstanding discoverer of
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 ''minor ...
s who currently works at the
ÅŒizumi Observatory. The asteroid
3500 Kobayashi is named after him.
Career
Kobayashi has discovered more than 2000
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
using
CCD technology, including the
Amor asteroid
The Amor asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after the archetype object 1221 Amor . The orbital perihelion of these objects is close to, but greater than, the orbital aphelion of Earth (i.e., the objects do not cross Earth's orb ...
s
7358 Oze, , and about nine
Trojan asteroid
In astronomy, a trojan is a small celestial body (mostly asteroids) that shares the orbit of a larger body, remaining in a stable orbit approximately 60° ahead of or behind the main body near one of its Lagrangian points and . Trojans can sha ...
s. He also discovered the periodic comet
P/1997 B1 (Kobayashi), which he originally reported as an asteroid.
His asteroid discoveries of January 16, 1994 and December 31, 1994, have been named
8883 Miyazakihayao and
10160 Totoro
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 (measurement), unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment ...
by Kobayashi. The names reference
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
filmmaker
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...
, and one of his creations, ''
My Neighbor Totoro
is a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten. The film—which stars the voice actors Noriko Hidaka, Chika Sakamoto, and Hitoshi Takagi—tells the story of a ...
''. The names were approved by the
International Astronomical Union
The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...
. Kobayashi is not to be confused with another Japanese astronomer,
Toru Kobayashi, who co-discovered comet
C/1975 N1 (Kobayashi-Berger-Milon).
P/1997 B1 Kobayashi
On January 30 and January 31, 1997, Kobayashi observed an object,
P/1997 B1 Kobayashi, which was initially thought to be a minor planet and was reported to the
IAU
The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach ...
as such by
Syuichi Nakano
is a Japanese astronomer. He specializes in the study of comets, in particular calculating their orbits and making predictions about when periodic comets will return for another perihelion approach. It is considerably more difficult to predict th ...
. Over the next few days, the object was observed to be in a
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 ...
ary
orbit
In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as a p ...
.
Warren B. Offutt
Warren B. Offutt (February 13, 1928 – September 20, 2017) was an American amateur astronomer and amateur radio operator.
Offutt is credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 17 asteroids and has notably collaborated with professi ...
later showed it to be a comet.
List of discovered minor planets
See also
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kobayashi, Takao
1961 births
21st-century Japanese astronomers
Discoverers of asteroids
Discoverers of comets
*
20th-century Japanese astronomers
Living people