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MONTHLY NEWS March 1997 Comet Named After Amateur Astronomer |
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The International Astronomical Union named a newly discovered comet after a Japanese amateur astronomer in early February. The discoverer is the tenth Japanese to receive this honor.
Comet Kobayashi was discovered on January 31 by Takao Kobayashi, an amateur astronomer living in the town of Oizumi, Gunma Prefecture (map), located northwest of Tokyo. The comet has an elliptical orbit, just like Halley's Comet, and revolves around the sun every 27 years. The discovery is the first in Japan since January 1996, when another amateur astronomer, Yuji Hyakutake, found Comet Hyakutake. |
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Comet Kobayashi is about 10 times farther from Earth than Comet Hyakutake and is the sixty-eighth comet to be discovered by a Japanese astronomer.
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