OBSERVATOIRE DE KISO

The Kiso Observatory was founded in 1974 under the auspices of the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory and the University of Tokyo. The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture is directly responsible for these infrastructures. Its main objectives are to search for specific astronomical objects in and outside our galaxy, the Milky Way, with privileged access given to astronomers and students at the University of Tokyo. Since 1988 and its thorough reform, it has belonged to the Institute of Astronomy of the Faculty of Science of the University of Tokyo. On a visit to this major centre of international astronomy, we discover the 105 cm diameter Schmidt telescope! This instrument is essentially devoted to wide-field imagery of the sky (initially silver and nowadays digital), i.e. recording large areas of the sky and therefore a very large number of objects at the same time. This visit is free, free of charge, and takes place every day from April to October, from 12pm to 5pm, and from 12pm to 4pm in November and December. The observatory is closed the rest of the year. You can admire some interesting exhibitions (notably images from the observatory) and especially the imposing 1 m telescope, the centrepiece of the site, from a specific room through a thick protective glass! It should be noted that at the beginning of August, the observatory organizes an "open house" day open to all audiences. The main interest of this day compared to traditional visits: it is then possible to enter the dome itself, and therefore to admire the telescope as closely as possible! A special conference is also on the agenda (provided of course that you have a minimum command of Japanese!) and, icing on the cake, observations are planned in the evening, depending on the weather conditions on site. No reservation is required. Parking is available for parking. One important detail remains: the observatory is located in the middle of wooded nature, at an altitude of 1,130 m, on the slopes of the spectacular Mount Ontake, which rises to some 3,067 m. However, there is no need to worry, its access is quite easy from the nearest town.