Identification

Title

Ms. Hisako Koyama: From Amateur Astronomer to Long-Term Solar Observer

Abstract

The path to science for a girl of any nationality born in the early twentieth century was formidable-to-nonexistent. Yet paths were forged by a few. We present the little-known story of one of Japan's premier solar observers and her contribution to the world's understanding of sunspots and space weather cycles. Ms. Hisako Koyama, born in Tokyo in 1916, became a passionate amateur astronomer, a dedicated solar observer, and a long-serving staff member of the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo. As a writer for amateur astronomy journals she advised many on the details and joys of sky viewing. She created a consistent, extended record of sunspots. Her multidecade archive of sunspot drawings is one of the 'backbones" for the recent international recalibration of the sunspot record that provides insight into space weather reaching back to the early 1600s. We detail her contributions to the citizens of Japan as an ambassador of astronomy and her international contribution to understanding the symmetries and asymmetries of the solar cycle. We comment on the value of her continuous record of sunspots and on her tenacity in promoting a science that links to space weather.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7542r55

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

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Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2017-10-01T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact