Kin Endate

Who is Kin Endate?

Kin Endate is a Japanese amateur astronomer who has discovered 614 asteroids, placing him among the most prolific discoverers of minor planets. His discoveries include the Trojan asteroid 1990 VU1 and the Mars-crossing asteroid 6500 Kodaira. He also recorded the first known precovery images of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with his private 10-inch diameter telescope on March 15, 1993, ten days before the official discovery of the comet. Kin, who was looking specifically for asteroids, did not know of the comet in his images until after the official discovery.

Two asteroids have been named in his honor: 4282 Endate after him, and 4460 Bihoro after the city in which he lives.

He was born in Iwaizumi in Iwate Prefecture and went to Hokkaido Designers School to study photography. He began taking astrophotos in high school, but did not begin serious asteroid observations until 1986.