Introduction and Policy Outline of the Facilities
Upper left: Domeless solar telescope at Hida Observatory (Takayama, Gifu), Bottom: Okayama Observatory (Asakuchi, Okayama), Upper right: Main building at Kwasan Observatory (Yamashina, Kyoto)
The affiliated astronomical observatory is mainly composed of the following three observatories:
- Hida Observatory that has two types of characteristic solar telescopes and two types of telescopes for night time observation. It stands at the vanguard of solar observation.
- Okayama Observatory that has a 3.8 m new technology optical infrared telescope whose purpose is observations of black hole X-ray binaries, gamma ray bursts, stellar flares and planetary formation regions.
- Kwasan Observatory with facilities for observation, data analysis, and theoretical numerical simulation research, which are also used for education and training of graduate and undergraduate students.
Research and education in these astronomical observatories consists chiefly of the following three areas:
- Solar physics research whose objective is observationally to clarify atmospheric structure and the mechanism of energy storage, dissipation, and transport, based on high resolution observation of the solar atmospheric structure and solar active phenomena.
- Solar and cosmical plasma physics research which approaches the hydromagnetic, active phenomena of universe which extends to the sun, stars, and even to galaxies, through theoretical simulation and analysis of observation data.
- Stellar physics research which primarily targets transient active phenomena such as black hole X-ray binary stars, cataclysmic variables, gamma-ray bursts, and stellar flares and the like, principally centered on spectroscopic and photometric observation in the visible range.
In recent years, we also apply our research results and experience to address space weather research to clarify the relationship between solar active phenomena and environmental disturbance in interplanetary space and Earth’s magnetosphere through observational and theoretical approaches.
Research Fields:
Solar Physics / Solar & Cosmical Plasma Physics / Stellar Physics / Basic Study of Space Weather Prediction
Astronomical Observatory(external link)