Gao Xing (; born 1974) is a Chinese

amateur astronomer Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers m ...

from

Ürümqi Ürümqi, , is the capital of the Xinjiang, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwestern China. With a census population of 4 million in 2020, Ürümqi is the second-largest city in China's northwestern interior after Xi'an, also the ...

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. (Astronomers name: Gaoxing) He built Xingming Observatory (星明天文台) in 2006 and discovered Comet C/2008 C1 (Chen-Gao) on February 1, 2008 with Chen Tao from

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

and Comet P/2009 L2 (Yang-Gao) on June 15, 2009 with Yang Rui from

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

and Comet C/2015 F5 (SWAN-Xingming) on April 4, 2015 with Guoyou Sun from

Wenzhou Wenzhou; Chinese postal romanization, historically known as Wenchow is a prefecture-level city in China's Zhejiang province. Wenzhou is located at the extreme southeast of Zhejiang, bordering Lishui, Zhejiang, Lishui to the west, Taizhou, Zheji ...

(...?) and hence won the Edgar Wilson Award for 2008. (He won Edgar Wilson Award unter that for 2015 3 times.) In the night on February 26, 2009, he discovered a nova in Sagittarius in the

Galaxy A galaxy is a Physical system, system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar medium, interstellar gas, cosmic dust, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek ' (), literally 'milky', ...

's central part at night with his partner Sun Guoyou from

. Gao reported his new discovery to the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

on May 29 and acquired the identification. On the night of October 3, 2010, he discovered a new supernova in NGC5430 at night with his partner Sun Guoyou. He also discovered several SOHO

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...

s and NEAT asteroids. Currently, he is working as a

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

teacher at the Urumqi No.1 High School. In 2017 he was awarded the Gordon Myers Amateur Achievement Award.

References

External links

Gao Xing's Homepage
Living people 1974 births Discoverers of comets Discoverers of supernovae Discoverers of minor planets Discoveries by Gao Xing 21st-century Chinese astronomers Amateur astronomers Chinese schoolteachers People from Ürümqi Educators from Xinjiang Scientists from Xinjiang {{astronomer-stub

See also

References

External links