Takeshi Urata

Takeshi Urata (浦田 武 Urata Takeshi?) is a Japanese astronomer. He is a prolific discoverer of asteroids, observing at Nihondaira Observatory.

In 1978 he became the first amateur to discover a minor planet in over fifty years. He named it after it his daughter, Mizuho.[1] His pioneering feat led to an upsurge in such discoveries. In the ten years that followed, amateurs from Japan discovered 160 minor planets.[2][3] Urata has contributed to academic journals such as Advances in Space Research.[4]

Urata co-discovered the periodic comet 112P/Urata-Niijima in 1986. One of the most active amateur astronomers in Japan, he is also an editor of the Japanese Ephemerides of Minor Planets. The 1927-discovered asteroid 3722 Urata is named after him.[5]

References

  1. ^ New York Times: p. 34. September 23, 1978. 
  2. ^ "Activities of Asteroid Studies by Amateur Astronomers in Japan". Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series. 63. Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series. Sagamihara near Tokyo, Japan; San Francisco. Bibcode 1994ASPC...63..297K. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1994ASPC...63..297K. Retrieved February 16, 2010. 
  3. ^ Liller, William. The Cambridge Guide To Astronomical Discovery. Cambridge University Press. pp. 37, 222. ISBN 0-521-41839-9. 
  4. ^ "A new 1 m telescope for space debris survey observations". Advances in Space Research. Vol. 34, Iss. 5, 2004, pp 917–920
  5. ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of minor planet names (5th ed.). Springer. p. 314. ISBN 3-540-00238-3.