Subaru Telescope 2.0

Active Collaborations in Japan and Overseas

Since the inception of open use programs, the Subaru Telescope has been accessed for research in almost all fields of optical and infrared astronomy, with an extensive range of observation targets, including Solar System bodies, stars, interstellar medium, star and planet formation, exoplanets, galaxies, black holes, the early Universe, and cosmology. The telescope’s capabilities have been strengthened with a focus on wide-field observation through the four key instruments. In addition, the diversity of other instruments responds to needs of different research themes.

The telescope’s large-scale survey produces big data to achieve the four science goals. The homogeneity of data of many celestial objects covering a broad range of wavelengths across the wide sky makes the data quite versatile for different research topics. Data from the Subaru Telescope is available globally and will be used for broad research fields, eventually turning into “legacy data” that plays a critical role in various research frontiers.

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Through international open-use programs, the Subaru Telescope continues to stand at the forefront of many scientific discoveries across various fields of astronomy. The Subaru Telescope 2.0 offers access to the ultra-wide field of view capability through the workhorse instruments, and other distinct types of instruments. In addition, its large-scale survey data enables diversified studies to be pursued.

Collaborations with Cutting-edge Telescopes

Collaborations between the Subaru Telescope’s HSC and space telescopes are planned in detail and underway. One of them is a joint research project with an X-ray instrument combining HSC’s visible images with X-ray data. The Subaru Telescope is teaming with other Maunakea Observatories for time exchange programs and optical-infrared telescopes in Japan for joint observation.

Subaru Telescope 2.0 strengthens collaborations with other state-of-the-art telescopes around the world by leveraging its ultra-wide-field capability. Partnerships with planned space missions are in progress for joint research and coordinated observation, including the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science’s Core-to-Core Program, SUPER-IRNET. The program intends to collaborate with space telescopes, which are expected to launch before the end of the decade.

Working together with other ground telescopes is also essential. The next generation of extremely large optical-infrared telescopes, such as the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), among other telescopes, plays a critical role in further exploration of celestial objects detected by Subaru Telescope 2.0’s ultra-wide field survey. Next-generation telescopes are expected to produce a spectrum of light from the objects and capture their images with high-resolution capability. Science cases envisioned with the collaboration between the Subaru Telescope and TMT are described in the Subaru / TMT Science Book 2020 (in Japanese).

The Subaru Telescope also combines forces with ALMA, which can capture high spatial resolution images in radio waves. The study of protoplanetary disks promoted by the Subaru Telescope advanced into analyzing those disks, consisting of dust and gas, through ALMA’s high-resolution capability. Observations of visible, infrared, and radio wavelengths through both telescopes are expected to bring groundbreaking work in many research areas.

Collaborations and joint research between the Subaru Telescope 2.0’s key instruments and telescopes in Japan and overseas will enlarge the participation of researchers in the world and expand the diversity of research themes.

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Subaru Telescope 2.0 aims to hold an indispensable position in the international network of astronomical observation and promote research through partnerships.