The Nobeyama Radio Observatory (NRO) is a division of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) under the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS).

Photo: NRO Logo

NAOJ Nobeyama is a leg of Around the World in 80 Telescopes tour: Click to play; click  (lower right) to view video full screen Part 2 Click to play; click  (lower right) to view video full screen Next stop: Gunma (previous stop: GEO600)

NRO operates powerful, advanced radio telescopes including:

• 45m Radio Telescope - One of the world's largest radio telescopes operating in short millimeter wavelength. Scientific outcomes from this instrument include discovery of a supermassive black hole and a number of interstellar molecules, and cover wide range of research fields such as formation of stars and planetary systems, structure and activity of galaxies, and interstellar chemistry.
   
• Nobeyama Millimeter Array (NMA) - An array of six transportable antennas separated at the maximum baseline of 600 m, connected with cables to achieve an angular resolution equivalent to that of an antenna of 600 m diameter. Scientific outcomes from this instrument include discovery of a forming galaxy and a protoplanetary gaseous disk.
   
• ASTE - Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment - A project that sets up and operates the first submillimeterwave telescope of 10m class in the southern hemisphere at Atacama Desert in South America Chile. This project promotes the submillimeter astronomy in the southern hemisphere in order to prove the development of the observational equipments and the technique that supports it.
   
• Nobeyama Radioheliograph - An array of eighty-four antennas aligned in the T-shaped configuration (E-W 500 m, N-S 220 m) dedicated for solar observations. High speed processing of signals from all antennas generates radio images of the Sun at the maximum rate of 20 images per second. Leading instrument for radio observations of solar flares.

A large number of scientists from around the world visit NRO to use these telescopes for researches in astronomy and astrophysics. Maintenance, upgrades, and new technical innovations are ceaselessly made all year round.

READ MORE »