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Minister Shibayama Visits Subaru Telescope

May 8, 2019
Last updated: July 1, 2023

Japan's Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Masahiko Shibayama visited the Subaru Telescope on May 4-5, 2019. He came to the base facility of the observatory in Hilo, where he was briefed about the telescope's outstanding capability for wide-field, high-sensitivity, and high-resolution observations; recent significant achievements of the telescope including the surveys of black holes; and the current status and future plan for the operation of the observatory by Dr. Saku Tuneta, Director General of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, and Dr. Michitoshi Yoshida, Director of the Subaru Telescope.

Minister Shibayama also visited the summit facility of the Subaru Telescope atop Maunakea, to see the telescope itself and to view the construction site of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) from a distance. He actively discussed the importance of the Subaru Telescope in the era of TMT, with Dr. Tsuneta and other people concerned. After the visit, Minister Shibayama expressed his continued support for the Subaru Telescope, and urged everyone "to tackle big problems in astronomy such as exoplanets and life on other worlds through collaborative research between the Subaru Telescope and TMT."

Minister Shibayama Visits Subaru Telescope Figure

Figure 1: Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Masahiko Shibayama visiting the summit facility of the Subaru Telescope. (Credit: NAOJ)

Minister Shibayama Visits Subaru Telescope Figure2

Figure 2: Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Masahiko Shibayama (right) visiting the base facility of the Subaru Telescope. (Credit: NAOJ)

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