Researchers from the University of Hawai‘i and NAOJ Director General Doi visited UTOPS.
During the visit, the group toured several laboratories at the University of Tokyo, including the CubeSat development laboratory in the School of Engineering and laboratories related to cosmochemistry and planetary science in the Graduate School of Science.
An article by Professor Shogo Tachibana of UTOPS has been published in the March issue of Gendai Kagaku.
The article, titled “Materials for Life Formed in Space,” appears in the special feature “Astrobiology: Exploring the Universality of Life.” It discusses the formation of materials related to life in space and their relevance to astrobiology.
For more information, please see here.
On February 22 (Sat.) and 23 (Sun.), 2025, we held an astronomy training for students from Ena High School and Tajimi-Kita High School in Gifu Prefecture. They estimated the distance to galaxies from photographs of galaxies and used the recession speeds of these galaxies to determine the age of the universe.
On January 25 (Sat.) and 26 (Sun.), 2025, we held an astronomy training for students from Suwa-Seiryo High School and Matsusho-Gakuen High School and Matsumoto-Agatagaoka High School in Nagano Prefecture. They estimated the distance to galaxies from photographs of galaxies and used the recession speeds of these galaxies to determine the age of the universe.
In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of planetariums, samples from asteroids Itokawa and Ryugu, brought back by the Japanese asteroid probes Hayabusa and Hayabusa2, are simultaneously exhibited in a nationwide tour. The relay tour will continue until May 2025 through the cooperation of member museums of the Japan Planetarium Association.
Organizers: Planetarium 100th Anniversary Commemorative Project Executive Committee, Astromaterials Science Research Group (ASRG ISAS/JAXA)
Co-organizers: UTokyo Organization for Planetary Space Science (UTOPS), Nagoya City Science Museum
For details, please refer to the following URL.
UTokyo Organization for Space and Planetary Science (UTOPS) cooperated with the exhibition “Sample Return from Asteroids” held from December 17, 2024 (Tue) to January 13, 2025 (Mon) in the permanent exhibition room on the 2nd floor of the Earth Hall, National Museum of Nature and Science.
Samples from the asteroids Itokawa and Ryugu, brought back to Earth by JAXA’s asteroid explorers Hayabusa and Hayabusa2, and sample from the asteroid Bennu, brought back to Earth by NASA’s asteroid explorer OSIRIS-REx, were displayed side by side. The samples of the three asteroids were exhibited to the public simultaneously for the first time in the world.
For details, please refer to the following URL.
Professor Shogo Tachibana of the UTOPS contributed an essay to The Big Issue Japan No. 493, in the special feature “Small Habits in My Life.”
Prof. Shogo Tachibana gave an invited talk on Ryugu and Bennu at the symposium “Life in Universe: Diversity in the building blocks, environments, and biological functions” at the 47th Annual Meeting of the Molecular Biology Society of Japan from November 26 (Wed.) to 29 (Fri.), 2024.
For details, please refer to the following URL.
https://pub.confit.atlas.jp/ja/event/mbsj2024/session/2R901-06
