Ikeya - Zhang Story

Just seen this post on the MPML regarding the Co discoverer Zhang of comet 2002 Ikeya - Zhang fame.....


Hi all!
I'm a 16-year-old comet fan from China.
Some days ago in October I met Zhang Daqin ,one of the discoverers of
153P/Ikeya-Zhang.
You see,in China he is the only one who has discoverer a comet
visually.
Before the discoverer of 153p.Zhang has searched the comet for 10
years,and now he is still serching.
So to me he is a idol.However ,there is a thing what is never konwn
by most of the people that in fact the idol of Zhang just is Ikeya.
Zhang has told to me that without Ikeya,he will never relate to
comets.
In Zhang's childhood he had read a story about the
famous "comethunter Ikeya",Zhang was interested by the story,Since
then he determined to find a comet and Ikeya has also been his idol
forever.
On 1st February 2002 Zhang found the 153P and then to his surprise
the other discover isn't other one ,just Ikeya,he's idol.He felt it
is just fated by God!The man who made him to search the comets is
just the company discoverer of his first comet.
Zhang has a hope to visit Ikeya at all times.But what a pity,he
didn't have a chance to Japan all along.
In September 2005,I have a chance to Japan with our school and we
visited Fukui and Tokyo.
It's an unforgettable trip to me.The Japanese family is very friendly
to me and my companies.
Even though I have no chance to visit most of Japanese amateur
astronomer ,it's a big pity to me .
My English is not very well.So I can't express the feeling of
Mr.Zhang very well.
But I have a hope,I want that Ikeya can know it.I have been moved by
this story.I think Ikeya will be happy when he knows it.
I hope that Chinese and the Japanes can be friendly forever whatever
has happened to our country and your country historically.It's a
voice of New century people from China,at least it's my hope.
Please convey my best regards to Ikeya,to all Japanese comet hunters.

Best Regards
Jin Zhao

From Hangzhou ,Zhejiang Province,China

Strong words alright! Never give up, keep searching, on the law of averages, you have to find somthing.......

Keith..

Nicely put Keith. I know your speaking from experience!

I remember I was a young lad at the time when I saw the famous Ikeya Seki Sun grazing comet in the morning sky. What amazed me and inspired me was Ikeya's background.

Culturally, the Japanese successes can be attributed to their seriousness in observing which the Japanese amateur observers approach comet sweeping and to the nationalistic public reaction towards the successful observers, that doesn't stir the public in the west. Any successful comet hunter was treated with public adulation.

The story of Ikeya illustrates this point well. In fact at the time it was his story of why his comet held the interest rather than the comet itself. Apparently the story begins some years earlier when the business of his father began to go downhill, like many businessmen before him, he took to drink to forget his troubles. This got worse and the family faced ignominious disgrace, a tragedy in a country where family pride is almost synonymous with the ultimate purpose of living.

His mother was forced to take a full time cleaning job, and Ikeya began paper rounds before he went to school to earn some money for the home. Each morning he rose at 5.00 am to start his morning's work, and during the following months he lived through a period of intense depression. He began to realise that the task of removing the family stigma which had been earned by his father, was going to be his responsibility. But how? Through astronomy? his father, before his business failure, had not favoured such an indulgence by his son. What good was astronomy in business? But Ikeya had ignored this. He was 17 years of age, and the fascination of astronomy held him in its grip. He needed fame, but how could one so young expect to achieve this. It was impossible. No, not quite. If he could attach his dishonoured name to a new comet, his glory and synonymously his family glory would be rung over all Japan.

This idea was, of course a schoolboy's pipe dream, and not only in Japan have schoolboys dreamt of discovering new comets.... Leaving school he began an unskilled job in the local piano factory. He started to construct a telescope and after a couple of years then started his unrelenting perseverence sweeping the skies. This went on for months and he got discouraged.

Contacted another comet hunter named Honda, who wrote back with encouragement and the search continued. It was another two years, the day his mother had prayed in a nearby shrine for good luck, that Ikeya found his prize. It was later on that he discovered the famous comet seeker. He became so famous that a film was made about his life. This was a time when Japanese observers had a monopolistic period of discovering comets.

Eamonn A

Thats is such a different culture to here, thankfully.
A great story all the same..

Eamonn, that's quite a story! He deserved his due credit. Now all we need is another hale-bopp
Who'll discover it, you?, me?, Martin would love to!!!, that bloody automated system?

Keith..