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AKARI (Previously known as ASTRO-F or IRIS - InfraRed Imaging Surveyor) is the second space mission for infrared astronomy in Japan. AKARI has been developed by members of JAXA/ISAS and collaborators. IRAS (Infrared Astronomical Satellite, launched in 1983 by the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Netherlands) carried out the first all-sky survey at infrared wavelengths and made a huge impact on astronomy. The AKARI mission is an ambitious plan to make an all-sky survey with much better sensitivity, spatial resolution and wider wavelength coverage than IRAS. AKARI has a 68.5cm telescope cooled down to 6K, and will observe in the wavelength range from 1.7 (near-infrared) to 180 (far-infrared) micron. AKARI was successfully launched into space by a M-V rocket. AKARI has been placed in a sun-synchronous polar orbit of about 700 km. |
AKARI operation completedJapan Aerospace Exploration Agency reported that operation of the infrared astronomical satellite AKARI (ASTRO-F) was completed. The onboard transmitters were turned off at 17:23 (JST) on the November 24, 2011. |
What's NewAKARI Finds Carbon Monoxide Molecules Embedded in Ten Million Degree Gas (February 8, 2012)A scientific team using the Japanese AKARI infrared space observatory finds carbon monoxide (CO) molecules in the ten million degree gas associated with the young supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A). The team is led by Dr. Jeonghee Rho, who holds a joint appointment at the SETI Institute, and at the SOFIA Science Center at NASA Ames Research Center (both located in Mountain View California). Theoretically it was neither predicted nor expected to find the carbon monoxide molecule associated with a highly energetic supernova remnant. Energetic electrons and heavy-element atoms produced by nuclear processes in supernovae should have destroyed these molecules. This finding could change our current understanding of the cycle of carbon and molecules in the interstellar gas and dust clouds.
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| For Astronomers | |
| U.K. Site ESAC/ESA Site Korean Site | |
 JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science |
 Infrared Astrophysics Group |
Copyright (c) 2002-2012 ISAS/JAXA, All Rights Reserved. iris_help@ir.isas.jaxa.jp |
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