National Astronomical Observatory of Japan facts for kids
The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (国立天文台, kokuritsu tenmondai) (NAOJ) is a special place where scientists study space and the stars. It has many research centers across Japan, plus observatories in Hawaii and Chile. NAOJ started in 1988 when three different research groups joined together. These groups were the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory, the International Latitude Observatory of Mizusawa, and part of the Research Institute of Atmospherics from Nagoya University.
In 2004, NAOJ became part of a bigger group called the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS). This helps different science groups work together.
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NAOJ's Amazing Facilities
NAOJ has many cool places where scientists work and use telescopes. Here are some of them:
Mitaka Campus: The Main Hub
The main office of NAOJ is in Mitaka, Tokyo. This campus is like the brain of NAOJ. It has:
- The main headquarters
- A center for handling astronomy data
- A place for developing new technology
- A public relations center, which helps share information with everyone
- Special telescopes like the Solar Flare Telescope and Sunspot Telescope, which study the Sun
- The TAMA 300 detector, which looks for tiny ripples in space called gravitational waves
- Historical instruments, like old telescopes that are now part of a museum
Nobeyama Radio Observatory: Listening to Space
This observatory is in Minamimaki, Nagano. It uses radio telescopes to "listen" to signals from space.
- The 45-meter Millimeter Radio Telescope is a huge dish that collects radio waves.
- The Nobeyama Radio Polarimeter also studies radio waves from the Sun.
- Some older instruments here, like the Nobeyama Millimeter Array, are no longer used but helped scientists learn a lot.
VERA Observatories: Seeing Far Away
VERA stands for "VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry." It uses several radio telescopes spread across Japan to act like one giant telescope. This helps scientists see very tiny details in space.
- Mizusawa VLBI Observatory in Ōshū, Iwate has a 20-meter radio telescope. It also has a museum about Dr. Kimura, a famous scientist.
- VERA Ogasawara Station on Ogasawara has another 20-meter radio telescope.
- VERA Iriki Station in Iriki also has a 20-meter radio telescope.
- VERA Ishigakijima Station in Ishigakijima has a 20-meter radio telescope.
KAGRA: Underground Wave Hunter
- The KAGRA telescope is located deep underground in Hida, Gifu. It is another special detector designed to find gravitational waves.
Ishigakijima Observatory: Murikabushi Telescope
- This observatory in Ishigakijima is home to the Murikabushi telescope.
Hawaii Observatory: Subaru Telescope
- NAOJ has a big observatory in Hawaii. The Subaru 8-meter telescope is located on Mauna Kea, a very tall mountain. This telescope is one of the largest optical telescopes in the world.
- There's also a base facility in Hilo, Hawaii to support the telescope.
Chile Observatory: Studying the Cold Universe
- In the Atacama Desert in Chile, NAOJ is part of two important projects:
- The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is a huge group of antennas that study the coldest, most distant parts of the universe.
- The Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment (ASTE) is another telescope that studies similar cold objects in space.
Working with Other Science Groups
NAOJ is part of the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS). This group was created in 2004 to help different science institutes work together. It includes NAOJ and four other national institutes that study biology, fusion energy, physiology, and molecular science. This teamwork helps scientists share ideas and make bigger discoveries.
Exciting Projects with NAOJ
NAOJ is involved in many amazing projects that help us learn more about space:
- ALMA and ASTE: These are powerful telescopes in Chile that study cold gas and dust in space.
- SELENE: A Japanese mission that explored the Moon.
- VSOP and VSOP-2: These projects used satellites to create giant radio telescopes in space.
- Hinode (Solar-B): A satellite that studies the Sun's atmosphere and magnetic fields.
- SPICA (satellite): A planned space telescope that would study infrared light from space.
- JASMINE: A small satellite designed to measure the positions of stars very accurately.
- Hubble Origins Probe: A concept for a future space telescope.
See also
In Spanish: Observatorio Astronómico Nacional de Japón para niños
- List of astronomical observatories
- National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Japan
- Yūko Kakazu
