Nagasaki University announced that the asteroid 22346 between Mars and Jupiter was named after Professor Emeritus Takashi Katsumata, who taught at the Faculty of Education, Nagasaki University for more than 29 years.
Professor Katsumata, through many years of studying Japanese mythology (Kojiki and Nihon Shoki), interprets Japanese mythology, and the god of the descendants of the heavens, Ame-no-Uzume, faces the Hyades constellation in the constellation of Oshi. Constellation myths also exist in Japan, such as pointing out that Ame no Uzume no Mikoto is equivalent to Orion, and Ame no Yachimata, the gateway to the heavenly world, is equivalent to the Pleiades star cluster. Discussing that, it attracted attention in the astronomy world.Akira Fujii, an internationally renowned astrophotographer, and Takeru Sato of the Oriental Astronomical Association proposed to honor this achievement, and Masayuki Yanai and Kazuro Watanabe, the discoverers of this asteroid 22346, also agreed. As a result, the International Astronomical Union IAU officially approved the name of Mr. Katsumata.This is the first time that the name of a Japanese scholar has been attached to an asteroid.
This asteroid No. 22346 "Katsumatatakashi" is about the size of Mt. Fuji (about 3.54 kilometers in diameter) and exists between Mars and Jupiter. It orbits the sun in a cycle of 16 years.Although it is a standard size for an asteroid, it cannot be seen with the naked eye or a small telescope because it is as bright as a XNUMXth magnitude star.
