Yuji Hyakutake

Yuji Hyakutake (百武 裕司, Hyakutake Yūji, July 7, 1950, Shimabara, Nagasaki – April 10, 2002, Kagoshima) was a Japanese amateur astronomer who discovered Comet C/1996 B2, also known as Comet Hyakutake on January 31, 1996 while using 25×150 binoculars.

Yuji Hyakutake
Born(1950-07-07)July 7, 1950
Shimabara, Nagasaki, Japan
DiedApril 10, 2002(2002-04-10) (aged 51)
Kokubu, Kagoshima, Japan
NationalityJapanese

Hyakutake graduated from the Kyushu Sangyo University as a photography major and started working at a newspaper in Fukuoka.[1] He first became interested in astronomy after seeing Comet Ikeya–Seki in 1965.[2] He began searching for comets in 1989. In 1993, he moved to Hayato for because “the skies were much clearer there” and so he could better continue his search for comets.[1] His first discovery was Comet C/1995 Y1, on December 26, 1995.[3]

Hyakutake discovered C/1996 B2 while looking for C/1995 Y1, a comet he had discovered a few weeks before.[4][5]

He died in Kokubu, Kagoshima, in 2002 at age 51 of an aneurysm which had led to internal bleeding.[2]

Asteroid 7291 Hyakutake is named after him.[6][7]

References
  1. "Comet discoverer Hyakutake dies". The Japan Times Online. April 12, 2002. ISSN 0447-5763. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  2. International Comet Quarterly. 23–24. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Appalachian State University. 2001. p. 236.
  3. Burnham, Robert. Comet Hale-Bopp: Find and Enjoy the Great Comet, pages 51-52, Cambridge University Press, Jan 28, 1997, ISBN 0521586364
  4. Ferris, Timothy (December 18, 2012). Seeing in the Dark: How Amateur Astronomers Are Discovering the Wonder. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781476711751.
  5. Levy, David (December 11, 2012). Comets: Creators And Destroyers. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781471109584.
  6. "7291 Hyakutake (1991 XC1) | JPL Small-Body Database Browser". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  7. "(7291) Hyakutake / 1991 XC1". IAU Minor Planet Center. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
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