Xi Zezong
Traditional Chinese席澤宗
Simplified Chinese席泽宗

Xi Zezong (June 6, 1927, Yuanqu, Shanxi – December 27, 2008, Beijing) was a Chinese astronomer, historian, and translator.[1][2] He was a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and an awardee of the Astronomy Prize.

He identified a possible reference to one of the Galilean moons of Jupiter in the fragmentary ancient works of the 4th-century BC Chinese astronomer Gan De, who may have made observation of either Ganymede or Callisto in summer 365.[3][4]

Honors

Asteroid 85472 Xizezong, discovered by the Beijing Schmidt CCD Asteroid Program in 1997, was named in his honor.[5] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on April 2, 2007 (M.P.C. 59388).[6]

References

  1. ↑ "In Memoriam: Xi Zezong". Newsletter of the History of Science Society. April 2009. Archived from the original on August 23, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Science historian XI Zezong, 81, passes away". Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  3. ↑ Xi, Zezong Z. (February 1981). "The Discovery of Jupiter's Satellite Made by Gan De 2000 years Before Galileo". Acta Astrophysica Sinica. 1 (2): 87. Bibcode:1981AcApS...1...85X.
  4. ↑ Hughes, David W. (1982). "Was Galileo 2,000 Years Too Late?". Nature. 296 (5854): 199. doi:10.1038/296199a0. S2CID 5313894.
  5. ↑ "(85472) Xizezong = 1997 LF4 = 2000 EJ21". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  6. ↑ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
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