Yoshihide Kozai

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yoshihide Kozai (1964)

Yoshihide Kozai ( Japanese 古 在 由 秀 , Kozai Yoshihide ; born April 1, 1928 in Komagone, today Toshima , Tokyo Prefecture ; † February 5, 2018 ) was a Japanese astronomer who studied celestial mechanics .

Live and act

Yoshihide Kozai graduated from Tokyo University . From 1958 to 1962 he was a Research Fellow at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory . There he finished his work on the "Kozai equation", which was then used in the USA to calculate orbits of artificial satellites.

Using data based on irregularities in the orbit of satellites, he determined the small deviations from the previously assumed symmetrical shape of the earth with high accuracy.

He is also known for the discovery of the Kozai effect , at the same time as Mikhail Lwowitsch Lidow (1926-1993), for which he received the prize of the Japanese Academy of Sciences in 1979 and became a member in 1980.

In 1966 Kozai became a professor at the Tōkyō Astronomical Observatory (since 1988 part of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan ), since 1981 its director.

From 1988 to 1991 he was the first Japanese president of the International Astronomical Union .

In 1989 he received the Brouwer Award from the American Astronomical Society . In 2009 he was recognized by the Japanese state as a person with special cultural merits .

In 1994 he retired as director of the National Astronomical Observatory. He died of liver failure on February 5, 2018.

The asteroid (3040) Kozai , discovered on January 23, 1979 by William Liller (* 1927) at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory , was named after him on July 2, 1985.

literature

  • S. Noma (Ed.): Kozai Yoshihide . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993, ISBN 4-06-205938-X , p. 836.

Web links

Commons : Yoshihide Kozai  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 私 が 生 ま れ た こ ろ ( Memento from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Japan Academy, 61st-70th ; Retrieved August 15, 2011
  3. ↑ Members of the Japanese Academy of Sciences , accessed February 18, 2018.
  4. ↑ IAU Information Bulletin no.104 (PDF; English).
  5. ^ The DDA / AAS Brouwer Award . American Astronomical Society / Division on Dynamical Astronomy. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  6. ↑ 平 成 21 年度 文化 功 労 者 ( Japanese ) Retrieved June 24, 2017.
  7. ↑ Masahiko Hayashi: 訃 報】 古 在 由 秀 先生 ( Japanese ) February 11, 2018. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  8. ↑ 訃 報 古 在 由 秀 さ ん 89 歳 ＝ 国立 天文台 初 代 台 長 ( Japanese ) The Mainichi Newspapers. February 11, 2018. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  9. ↑ Minor Planet Circ. 9770 (PDF).
personal data
SURNAME Kozai, Yoshihide
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH April 1, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Komagone, Toshima , Tokyo Prefecture
DATE OF DEATH 5th February 2018