My Diary

September 16
    Ishigakijima is a small town with a population of a few tens of thousands, but, while we were driving around the island, it appeared large than the population suggested. I was impressed by strikingly blue color of the ocean reminiscent of tropical coral reefs and beaches of slightly yellowish, very fine sand grains. At famous Kahira I marveled from a sight-seeing boat at variously colored corals and swarms of tropical fish in shallow water. I was accompanied by Mr. Takeshi Miyaji, deputy director of the observatory, and Mr. Okabe, a journalist from the Kochi Shinbun newspaper.
    In the afternoon astronomy lectures were held at a community hall. Most of the audience were adult community members, while young students I had anticipated were mostly unable to attend it because of their school field days or some other events.
    It was September 16 and another typhoon was approaching this island. Forty-two years ago today, 3 days before the discovery of Comet Ikeya-Seki, a strong typhoon was approaching Kochi. Naturally, I directed my talk to the discover of Comet Ikeya-Seki. Miraculously cleared skies in the wake of the typhoon, an overused home-built telescope with a 9cm objective lens, an encounter with the comet during the 15 minutes under moonlight before the morning twilight closed in. It was a discovery all blessed with miracles. And the comet's plunge into the sun one month later, its miraculous survival, and impact on my attitude to life, so on and on.    Staying at the same hotel in the city that night, I had a useful meeting with members of a local astronomical club at their usual hangout.
    The following day I flew out of Ishigakijima in the middle of heavy rain as if trying to get away from the approaching typhoon. I headed home remembering the generosity of members of Yaeyama Astronomical Club and Mr. Miyaji of the observatory.


September 15
    Because of my involvement in the naming of a minor planet after the local word "murikabushi", the nickname of Ishigaki Astronomical Observatory's 105cm reflector, I had a chance to come to Ishigakijima Island I had been longing to visit. The visit coincided with the passing of the typhoon over the island. Mr. Okabe, a reporter of the Kochi Shinbun newspaper accompanied me on the same flight.
    We were met at the island's small airport by Mr. Takeshi Miyaji from the National Observatory and immediately headed for the observatory on the hill overlooking the ocean. The white dome of the observatory was seen from the plane shining in the distance for some time before the plane landed at the airport.
    The dusk was just closing in on us at the end of a long subtropical day and we saw from the hill the magnificent expanse of the ocean and beautiful lights of the city. The city lights did not bother us much as many of them were sodium lamps acknowledging the presence of the observatory. Jupiter was due south at 20 hours and Scorpius and Sagitarrius were surprisingly high in the sky. The latitude here is 24 degrees north, as much as 10 degrees lower than that of Geisei. Alpha Crucis, the southernmost star of the Southern Cross, rises more than 2 degrees above the horizon, they say.
    I had a chance to look at Jupiter at about 200x at the Nasmyth focus, close to the lowest effective magnification the 105cm cassegrain telescope could deliver. Because of the large aperture of the telescope, it was vulnerable to the effect of seeing. However, Jupiter appeared dazzlingly bright and at moments of good seeing the surface of Jupiter showed an incredible amount of detail with picture-like clarity. The light pollution from the town in the east is relatively mild and, according to an Observatory staff member specializing in the study of minor planets, they can go as deep as 20th magnitude with a CCD camera, though they haven't challenged 21st magnitude objects yet. The views of the Galilean satellites were excellent. However, they appeared almost as pinpoints. A past observer claimed that he had seen markings on the Galilean satellites using a 20cm telescope. Looking through the 105cm telescope, I got the impression it was almost impossible to accomplish such a task. I am not in favor of sketching the planets because the results are affected by the observer's subjectivity and illusion.
    It would be great if observers on this island would begin searching for novae and comets, as the view of the southern Milky Way is excellent.
    Although this observatory is run by the government, it is fortunately open to the public and operated in cooperation with them. There were many people visiting the observatory that night for public viewing sessions. Members of the public seemed to be looking after the night's visitors. With guidance provided by the observatory, there should be observers in the future who can contribute to astronomical discoveries. In the lecture I am going to deliver tomorrow, I will choose a topic that will inspire local observers and encourage them to strive for discovery of astronomical objects emphasizing the observatory's advantageous location for observing the southern sky.
    After the tour of the observatory, three of us took a commemorative photo against the background of the starry sky of the south. Hearing faintly the sound of waves from the south, I remembered the time I had headed for the South Pacific following Halley's Comet. I realized that I was now standing at the southernmost point of the Japanese archipelago.


August 29
    A public observing night was held at Geisei Observatory for the total lunar eclipse last night. We had a full capacity crowd of about 40 people. Though there were some clouds, the participants enjoyed a magnificent view of the eclipse. The reddish moon during the totality is always magical.
    The following day I returned to the observatory with Mr. Keiichiro Okamura to do some work. The forecast for the day was cloudy or rain, but I feel weather forecast is often wrong even with meteorological satellites' watchful eye. The day turned out to be a hot, clear day. The forecast says it will be cloudy or rainy for next 7 days or more, but I wonder if such bad weather continues that long.
    Once upon a time there was a weather forecaster called "Kuromatsu" at a weather station somewhere in Japan. As you can expect, weather forecasting those days was often inaccurate and Mr. Kuromatsu's forecast was rarely right. Consequently, he became known to be synonymous with inaccuracy. One day a senior military officer advised to conscripts being sent to battle fields: "You should yell Kuromatsu again and again on the field. Enemy bullets will never hit you." The joke is still being told even today.
    There was a fisherman in a fishing village somewhere in Japan. He was not a professional weather forecaster, needless to say, but said to be quite accurate in predicting weather based on his long experience watching the appearance of the clouds and wind directions. Other fishermen trusted this old man's weather prediction and would leave the port early in the morning feeling quite secure.
    Mr. Kei Okamoto, my primary school teacher who loved nature, told me this story. On a summer holiday he embarked from a fishing port near Cape Ashizuri on a geological research tour to a remote island in the south hiring a local boatman. The weather that day was good, but the experienced boatman, quite knowledgeable on the local weather, said to him, "Judging from the wind direction, it will become stormy in the afternoon. I will pick you up a little earlier." Mr. Okamoto wasn't quite sure if he should really believe him, but surprisingly the weather turned stormy that afternoon and the old man's prediction proved to be perfect. It is a pity that these fishermen's expertise on weather prediction has not been documented and eventually lost. I feel that it may be important not to rely too heavily on numerical forecasting, but to develop some kind of intuition built upon field experience.
    We spent a half day to install an elliptical secondary mirror on the 60cm reflector. Geisei's 60cm is an astrograph and wasn't set up for viewing through the side of the tube with a secondary mirror like a typical Newtonian telescope. We installed the 25cm-diameter secondary mirror, which had been in storage since the opening of the observatory. We are now able to observe visually through the 60cm telescope. The elliptical mirror weighed 16 kg and it was extremely difficult to install such a heavy mirror high above the floor. We managed to finish the job though we faced a physical danger all the time. We also achieved a perfect tube balance. Any type of visual observation has now become possible with the 60cm mirror. As a result of the altered optical configuration, the film size is reduced from a 60mm x 70 mm format to a smaller 35mm film format. Until then visual observation had relied on the 20cm refractor attached to the 60cm scope, but now we can look through the 60cm scope. Later I will show you images taken with the 60cm's perfect parabolic mirror without the field flattener lens.

August 4
    I went to Tokushima to give a lecture for the annual Hands-on Science Festival organized by the engineering department of Tokushima University. I took the highway to Tokushima, but for a return trip I drove along Route 192 and 32 at a leisurely pace. I had a chance to enjoy the views of Yoshinogawa River running through the mountains. I believe one of the minor planets discovered at Geisei was named after "Yoshinogawa".

   I was told this was the 11th anniversary of the Festival. Dr. Atsushi Mori, who helped in many ways to organize this event, happened to be a son of the famous comet hunter Mr. Hiroaki Mori of Gifu prefecture. My lecture was titled "Comet mysteries and comet search". Because I noticed so many junior high school students in the audience, I avoided technical matters and talked in such a way that it would give these young people dreams through astronomy. I included many interesting episodes in my talk, too. The audience was so well-mannered and attentive that I thoroughly enjoyed speaking to them and was not aware of the passing of time.

    After the talk I enjoyed superb astrophotographs taken by members of the University's astronomy club. Particular images of the Milky Way stood out among these photographs. They were taken with a CCD camera on the 113cm reflector at the Anan Science Center Nakagawa Observatory (formerly Nakagawa Science Center Nakagawa Observatory) in Tokushima prefecture. This event overarches all the fields of science and generated a huge turnout of families. Unlike Toskushima Kochi prefecture does not own a science museum nor planetarium and I suspected it would be more than 10 years behind other prefectures in the level of children's interest and knowledge in science. Though Kochi has long excelled in politics and sports, it is lamentably inadequate when it comes to science.

July 17
　Hot days continue. This must be the peak of summer heat.

　There is famous tango music called "Orchids in the Moonlight", which is usually played on the harp. A "queen-of-the-night" has been bearing buds for some time, but finally began blooming late tonight. It is a rather unusual plant known to flower only once a year at night. During the day the buds were green, but around 22:00, they began to open and by 24:00 they were in full bloom. They were short-lived lasting only for a few hours and wilted before dawn. Why do they bloom late at night and whom do they expect to see them? There were no butterflies, no bees around this late at night. Only a 13-day-old moon was watching this scene hanging low in the southern sky. Do they flower only on moonlit nights? And strangely they flower only once a year.

　There are people who are known to be masterful in their own fields. There are people blessed with exceptional beauty. It occurred to me that there may be also people who are equally talented and blessed but not known to the world. There may be things which are exceptional but unnoticed in secluded places. While looking at white flowers of the queen-of-the-night bathed in beautiful moonlight, I thought of people who had dedicated their lives to comet search. They lived their lives gracefully without seeking honor or fame or without being noticed.


July 15
    In the wake of the typhoon we had a magnificent blue sky today. The sky seen through the window appeared deeply blue just like looking into the depth of ocean. The stars over Geisei tonight were full of life. The bright light of the Milky Way was overwhelming the earth and heavens. It was vividly three dimensional giving an impression that we were truly at the center of the universe. This reminds me of the awesome Milky Way I saw 10 years ago from the summit of Mauna Kea.

    C/2006 VZ13 (LINEAR) was initially listed as a minor planet, but now is showing the true nature of the comet. Geisei's 60cm reflector captured the image of this comet on its rapid southward journey in the evening northern sky. In the 8cm finderscope it was bright at 7.5 magnitude with a 7'-diameter coma. It will be observable for a while in the evening sky.

    After midnight I began sweeping the eastern sky. I fitted the "navigator" (digital setting circles) to the 15cm binoculars. M33 in Triangulum appeared surprisingly bright and large. The total magnitude seemed to clearly exceed the 6th magnitude.

    The clusters of the Pleiades and Hyades came into view in the morning. I remembered that Mr. Ikeya near Hamamatsu discovered a 7th magnitude comet in the Hyades around this time of 1964. It was fairly low in the sky.

    Since arriving at the observatory at 20:00, I had been kept quite busy. A little before 4 o'clock in the morning, I headed west back home with the morning twilight behind me. I always feel refreshed when I have seen beautiful stars through the comet seeker during comet search. This will be the world known only to comet hunters.


June 11
    With the naming of a minor planet after Professor Nobuyuki Yamaguchi, formerly a professor of Kochi University, all of the eight staff members of Geisei Observatory now have had minor planets named after their names. I believe this is rather unusual in Japan.

Seki        (3426)  Tsutomu Seki
Okamura     (4505)  Keiichiro Okamura
Muraoka     (5124)  Kenji Muraoka
Kawazoe     (7410)  Akira Kawazoe
Shimomoto   (18365) Shigeo Shimomoto
Nobuyuki    (27716) Nobuyuki Yamaguchi
Kimihiro    (27739) Kimihiro Matsugi
Obatomoyuki (27740) Tomoyuki Oba

    The numbers in parentheses are confirmed minor planet numbers in the ascending order. All the minor planets except Seki were discovered at Geisei.

    When a CCD imaging system is introduced at Geisei, we will be able to observe these minor planets and see them on the computer monitor at any time. The names of these eight staff members will shine in space eternally and Geisei Observatory will forever be active.

May 19
    I observed from the night of May 19 until the dawn of May 20. Two comets can be visually observed now: C/2007 E2 (Lovejoy) and 96P/Machholz. C/2007 E2 is moving west in the evening northern sky and 96P/Machholz is high in the eastern sky in the early morning. Lovejoy appears as a small faint glow of 11.5 magnitude in the 20cm refractor and shows a sharp 15th-magnitude nucleus in a photograph taken by the 60cm reflector. Shortly, it will become undetectable visually. Comet Machholz has brightened as it has moved closer to the sun. Its total magnitude is around 12th magnitude. Due to its fast motion it trails like a star with a 10-minute exposure by the 60cm reflector. A very large faint glow spreads broadly. Unfortunately, this extensive glow may not be captured by reflectors with large f-ratios.

    After observations at the dome, I moved to the roll-off observatory for comet search for about an hour until dawn. M31 and M32 in Andromeda drifted into the field of view and were surprisingly bright. The transparency that night seemed to be excellent. A little earlier I noticed the presence of a reddish 2nd-magnitude star 5 degrees west of Gamma Andromedae. The color of the star resembles that of a ripen Chinese lantern plant (ground cherry). In the 15cm telescope at 25x it was clearly disk-shaped and 30" in diameter. The moment it entered the field of view, I thought it was Mars. It looked just like Mars on its close approach. But come to think of it, there shouldn't be any planet this far from the ecliptic. It was completely stationary shining for more than half an hour until dawn. Although I was wondering what this object was, unconsciously I must have decided it was Mars and moved away from that object.

    After returning home, the question about the identity of that object started nagging me. I don't know its exact position, but fortunately the altazimuth mounting was equipped with setting circles and I had written the observed position in a corner of the field notebook.

    27h30m on May 19 (03h30m on May 20)
    RA: 01h38m
    Dec: +44 30 (Epoch 2007.5)
    Magnitude: 2

    This object looked very unusual, shining crimson near blue Gamma Andromedae with a similar brightness. On May 16 there was an "incident" where a 2.7-magnitude star was discovered by Tsuchinshan Observatory in China and then lost. If this object I saw becomes lost too, it will be a mystery like Tsuchinshan's object. What is the identity of that star shining redder than Antares? The summer mystery season has begun!

May 15
    I had visitors on May 14 and 15. They were Mr. Sasaki, a reporter for Tenmon Guide magazine, Mitsuru Ebina, a cartoonist and author, and others. They came to see me to write an article about me. At the last Comet Conference in Niigata prefecture, they asked permission to interview me. The cartoonist Mr. Ebina told me that he had become interested in astronomy when he was a junior high school student, after his encounter with Comet Ikeya-Seki in October 1965. The monochrome photo of the comet he took from Beppu City was remarkable and I used it in the Memorable Comets section at my website.

    During the interview I told them that I had begun dreaming about comet hunting after seeing Comet Honda when I was a high school student. I also told them about the hardships I endured until my first discovery, which was not widely known. They took photographs of me with Geisei’s old but still active 60cm reflector. Because this 5-ton telescope is plagued with trouble of the electronic system, I have to use brute force to turn this telescope. I must have looked like doing the lifts in the gym or a gunner desperately wrestling with a 28-cm cannon in the Japanese army during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05). People burst out laughing at the sight. (I secretly go to the gym to build strength to maneuver this heavy telescope.)

    The 60cm telescope has been operated manually for almost one year because of the unrepairable faults. But this doesn't interfere with my observing, as the coordinates are still digitally displayed accurately. It is interesting that within large astronomical telescopes reside microscopic components.

    At the time this telescope was installed, I vowed that I would stake my life at a "dual" with this telescope. It seems it is becoming a reality. I hope the Tenmon Guide article conveys to their readers with photographs and texts my dedication and devotion to astronomy. The article will be published in the July issue. They told me that they would interview other comet hunters for future articles.

May 7
    A long spell of fine weather is likely to follow this rain. In my previous diary entry, I wrote about seeing a bright satellite. A prompt investigation by Mr. Hirohisa Sato in Fukushima prefecture revealed that it was the International Space Station. There is no doubt about the identity of this satellite, as it matches the predicted brightness and timing.

    I have just observed two bright comets C/2007 E1 and C/2007 E2, taking advantage of fine weather following the rainy day. E1 in the evening sky could not be detected visually and in an image taken by the 60cm reflector it was 15th-16th magnitude with a relatively clear nucleus. C/2007 E2 (Lovejoy) had been visible in the predawn sky, but has moved north rapidly and become visible in the northeastern sky before midnight. In the 20cm refractor at 60x it appeared very diffused. The comet was 9.6-9.7 magnitude and its come was 4 minutes across without a tail. In a photograph there is a 13th-magnitude sharp stellar nucleus. This comet will move further north and will become a circum-polar object. I wonder if a comet of this faintness can be detected visually. If you could detect it with a suitable comet seeker, you would be a very promising comet hunter. The moment I saw this comet, I remembered Comet Denning-Fujikawa, which appeared in 1978 and then disappeared. It was very similar to Denning-Fijikawa in brightness and appearance, though it was a completely different comet.

May 3
    On May 3, during the May holiday, I visited Ashizuri Peninsula. It was quite a while after my last visit. While driving along the national highway, I always appreciate the strikingly beautiful Ohkinohama Beach near the base of the peninsular. The beach is picturesque with white sand and lush green pine trees, beyond which lies the blue sea extending as far as the distant Ashizuri Peninsula. It makes you feel it almost inapproachable with its overwhelming beauty shrouded in mist. But it was different today. The beach was dotted with numerous people enjoying swimming. They looked like ants swarming the beach. Attracted by the charm of the beach, I tried to walk down to the beach, but all the parking spaces along the highway were full with a flood of cars. I gave up and drove along. I was surprised by the presence of so many people on the usually deserted but beautiful beach.

    Driving about 4 hours from Kochi City passing through Shimanto City, I arrived at the destination, the ruins of Tojindaba. It was the site where the articles left by people from ancient China (about 2000 years ago) were uncovered. It was near scenic Ashizuri Skyline road. In a dense forest large rocks of peculiar shapes emerge here and there resembling the gigantic statues of the Easter Island. The largest of these rocks were the size of a 6-mat room (roughly 3.6mx2.7m). There was a rock of an usual shape called the "Turtle Rock", which looked exactly like a turtle. Another rock with razor-sharp edges soared into the sky like the peaks of the rugged Alps. And there was a small shrine in a cave among huge rocks and mysteriously you would sense in
the air the presence of spirit. Hidden in this cave, there is perhaps ancient history unknown to us.
    I remember that I "explored" this area about 5 years ago with Mr. Okamura and Mr. Kawazoe, staff members of the observatory. I visited the magnificent garden of a Mr. Kataoka, whose family had been engaged in farming for generations. There was an artificial mound or miniature mountain in the garden. We visited his garden as we had heard that a cave among peculiar rocks on the mountain let sunlight pass through only on the day of the summer solstice. I believe our visit fell upon the summer solstice day, still early in summer. Although it was a summer day, the mountain was covered with flowers and clear chirps of bush warblers were echoing in a fresh highland wind.

    From the ruins of Tojindaba I was able to see the sea around distant Ashizuri over extensive green farms. The white lighthouse at the tip of the peninsular looked tiny in haze and a white passenger liner going far beyond it was floating like a toy ship.

    I left the highland wondering what sort of nigh skies would spread overhead at night. There is romance and mystery about Ashizuri Peninsular. The day I spent at Ashizuri was like a day at the utopia depicted in an ancient Chinese novel.