was a 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, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

. He was a prolific discoverer 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, observing at

Nihondaira Observatory Nihondaira Observatory (also known as Oohira Station, Obs. code: 385) is an astronomical observatory that is located on a hill overlooking Shimizu, Japan. It has been the source for numerous discoveries of minor planet by astronomer ...

. In 1978 he became the first amateur to discover a minor planet (

2090 Mizuho 2090 Mizuho, provisional designation , is a stony asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 18 kilometers in diameter. The asteroid was discovered on 12 March 1978, by Japanese astronomer Takeshi Urata at the JCPM Yaki ...

) in over fifty years, which he named after his daughter, Mizuho. His pioneering feat led to an upsurge in such discoveries. In the ten years that followed, amateurs from Japan discovered 160 minor planets. Urata shared his observation data with peer astronomers in Japan on a periodical called "Tenkai" (the Heavens), as well as contributed to academic journals such as ''Advances in Space Research'' and participated in poster presentations at astronomical conferences. Urata co-discovered the periodic comet 112P/Urata-Niijima in 1986. One of the most active amateur astronomers in Japan, he was also an editor of the Japanese ''Ephemerides of Minor Planets''. The 1927-discovered asteroid 3722 Urata is named after him.

List of discovered minor planets

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Urata, Takeshi 1947 births 2012 deaths Discoverers of asteroids Discoverers of comets * 20th-century Japanese astronomers