astronomy

Zhang Jiaxiang

Zhang Jiaxiang is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Zhang Jiaxiang rather than just read about it. In short: Zhang Jiaxiang (Chinese: 张家祥; 30 October 1932 – 29 December 2019), also known as Chia-Hsiang Chang, was a Chinese astronomer affiliated with Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and president of the Minor Planet Foundation at that observatory. He discovered 5384 Changjiangcun, an inner main-belt asteroid of the Hungaria family at the Purple Mountain Observatory in 1957 named after the village ne…

Key takeaways

Zhang Jiaxiang belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Zhang Jiaxiang to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Zhang Jiaxiang from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Zhang Jiaxiang (Chinese: 张家祥; 30 October 1932 – 29 December 2019), also known as Chia-Hsiang Chang, was a Chinese astronomer affiliated with Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and president of the Minor Planet Foundation at that observatory. He discovered 5384 Changjiangcun, an inner main-belt asteroid of the Hungaria family at the Purple Mountain Observatory in 1957 named after the village near Zhangjiagang, China. It is his only discovery credited by the Minor Planet Center under the name "C.-H. Chang".

Biography Zhang Jiaxiang was born on 30 October 1932 in Nanjing, Jiangsu, Republic of China. In 1951, he first joined the Purple Mountain Observatory as a technician, supervised by director Zhang Yuzhe. In 1957, Zhang Yuzhe and Zhang Jiaxiang published a paper discussing the orbit of artificial satellites. From 1965 to 1972, Zhang led the project of orbit determination of the first Chinese artificial satellite and thereafter the systematic studies of the orbit of Chinese synchronous satellite. His group discovered more than 150 new minor planets and four comets. In the 1990s, he accurately predicted a series of collision times between 19 comet nuclei and Jupiter, based on his self-established numerical model of the Solar System dynamics. He then served as the chief scientist for the construction of the Near Earth Object Telescope. In recognition of his contributions, the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian named the asteroid 4760 Jia-xiang after him. Zhang died on 29 December 2019, aged 87.

See also List of minor planet discoverers § C.-H. Chang

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Zhang Jiaxiang

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Zhang Jiaxiang claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Zhang Jiaxiang before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Zhang Jiaxiang ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Zhang Jiaxiang

In research: Zhang Jiaxiang appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Zhang Jiaxiang in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Zhang Jiaxiang is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1932 births, 2019 deaths, 20th-century Chinese astronomers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Zhang Jiaxiang outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Zhang Jiaxiang in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Zhang Jiaxiang means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Zhang Jiaxiang out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Zhang Jiaxiang in simple terms?

Why does Zhang Jiaxiang matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Zhang Jiaxiang?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Zhang Jiaxiang.