, also read as Makoto Hirayama, was the first Japanese astronomer to discover an asteroid. In 1900, he discovered 498 Tokio and 727 Nipponia. The crater Hirayama on the Moon is jointly named after him and Kiyotsugu Hirayama.

Biography

Shin Hirayama was born in Edo (now Tokyo) and the second son of a former guard of the Shogun. He was a disciple of astronomer and mathematician Hisashi Terao, and finished the course of astronomy at the Tokyo Imperial University in 1890. After graduating, he was sent to England by the Japanese government to help further his studies in astronomy. He worked on astronomical spectroscopy at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. Several months later, he went to Potsdam, Germany, where he stayed for about three years. He also attended lectures in Berlin and Leipzig during his stay in the country. During this time, he also published a paper on various diffraction patterns.

References

  • 月の命名は？ at www12.plala.or.jp (in Japanese)