The is a
not-for-profit organization
A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives.
While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...
based in
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
,
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. Its formal status under the Japanese law is .
Missions
The aims of the Japan Spaceguard Association (JSGA) echoes that of
The Spaceguard Foundation
The Spaceguard Foundation (SGF) is a private organization based in Frascati, Italy, whose purpose is to study, discover and observe near-Earth objects (NEO) and protect the Earth from the possible threat of their collision. The Foundation (chari ...
and other
spaceguard
The term Spaceguard loosely refers to a number of efforts to discover, catalogue, and study near-Earth objects (NEO), especially those that may impact Earth ( potentially hazardous objects).
Asteroids are discovered by telescopes which repeated ...
movements: to protect the Earth's environment from a disastrous
near-Earth object
A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body orbiting the Sun whose closest approach to the Sun ( perihelion) is less than 1.3 times the Earth–Sun distance (astronomical unit, AU). This definition applies to the object's orbit a ...
(NEO) collision by studying and observing the NEOs.
[Article 3 of th]
by-laws of JSGA
JSGA operates the
Bisei Spaceguard Center, owned by the Japan Space Forum, to achieve their goal. It is located near
Bisei town in the western Japan. In addition to the search for NEOs, this facility will be used to track debris in
Earth's orbit
Earth orbits the Sun at an astronomical unit, average distance of , or 8.317 light-second, light-minutes, in a retrograde and prograde motion, counterclockwise direction as viewed from above the Northern Hemisphere. One complete orbit takes & ...
. The
Minor Planet Center
The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Funct ...
credits JSGA with the discovery of the main-belt asteroid , made at
Kiso Observatory
Kiso Observatory (: Kiso Kansokujo) is an astronomical observatory located at Mt. Ontake in Japan. The observatory was founded in 1974, originally as a branch observatory of the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory, with the express objective of study ...
on 6 December 1996.
International asteroid monitoring project
JSGA as being a , it is keen to have astronomical education for young people and in 2001 held Spaceguard
Private Investigator
A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a wikt:private eye, private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. ...
s of the Stars: ''the fugitives are asteroids!'' rally as part of its asteroid monitoring project.
Yoshiaki Oshima
(born 1952) is a Japanese astronomer at Gekko Observatory and prolific discoverer of 61 asteroids as credited by the Minor Planet Center, and include the binary asteroid 4383 Suruga, the potentially hazardous object (7753) 1988 XB and the Jupit ...
was seated at the operating committee and the jury, and JSGA submitted a paper on that project in a proceedings.
[Oshima contributed to the paper.] British Council advised JSGA for its contest and supported them to present their project to observatories and laboratories.
To run the contest and along with the Bisei Spaceguard Center, an optical telescope on the
Canary island
The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the continent being 100 kilometres (62 mi ...
operated by
Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool John Moores University (abbreviated LJMU) is a public university, public research university in the city of Liverpool, England. The university can trace its origins to the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts, established in 1823. This ...
in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
transmitted images to each participant via internet connection. In total, 438 school classes and other teams signed up with 1,317 people, and 133 group and individual contestants reported the results of their observation. The
Yomiuri Shimbun
The is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are ''The Asahi Shimbun'', the ''Chunichi Shimbun'', the ''Ma ...
newspaper sponsored the project and run articles reporting the progress of the contest.
The Liverpool John Moores University and their
Astrophysics Research Institute operates the National Schools' Observatory program with a robotic telescope on the
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...
, and schools in the United Kingdom register to monitor asteroids from remoted locations.
They cosponsored the International Schools' Observatory (ISO) program
British Council
The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...
had organized, when 12 teams of junior high to senior high school classes took part from Asian and European countries.
The contestants for Spaceguard Private Investigators of the Stars sent their reports due March 4, 2001, and JSGA examined 133 reports over the period of two weeks. On 14 March the jury meeting was held, and winners were announced on Yomiuri Shimbun on 20 March 2001. Award overview as well as assessment comments were published along with presentation report and interviews to awardees. JSGA presented the prospectus for future astronomic education and asteroid hunting projects.
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See also
* Bisei Spaceguard Center
Notes
References
External links
Japan Spaceguard Association
{{Authority control
Space program of Japan
Astronomical surveys
Non-profit organizations based in Japan
Planetary defense organizations