DATE2021.01.28 #Events

Disclaimer: machine translated by DeepL which may contain errors.

(Videos of this lecture are also available on the Graduate School of Science and Faculty of Science YouTube channel. (Please click on the links to each video below to watch them)

Greetings

Professor Masahiro Hoshino, Dean, Graduate School of Science Watch the video

Speakers and Lectures

Asteroid Ryuguu as Revealed by the Hayabusa2 Spacecraft

Seiji Sugita, Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Science Watch video

- Biography -.

D. from Brown University, USA, Research Associate at The University of Tokyo, and Professor at Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, before assuming his current position in 2014.

The Hayabusa2 spacecraft arrived at the asteroid Ryuguu in June 2018 and immediately started high-precision observations. Because Ryuguu is ultra-small, with a diameter of less than 1 km, it was difficult to conduct precision observations using ground-based telescopes. Therefore, not even the direction of its rotation axis was known, and it was necessary to start observations on an unknown asteroid from scratch. It took about three months to obtain sufficient scientific knowledge to select a landing site. The science team has been revealing various elementary features of Ryuguu through frantic analysis. In this lecture, the origin and evolution of Ryuguu, revealed in the turbulent 18 months since its arrival, will be explained in an easy-to-understand manner.

The Road to Touchdown on the Ryuguu Surface

Tomokatsu Morota (Associate Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Science) Watch video

- Biography -.

D. in Department of Materials Structure Science, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Kanazawa University. After working as a Project Researcher at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Researcher at National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Assistant Professor at Nagoya University, and Lecturer at the same institution, he has been in his current position since 2019. Doctor of Science.

The Hayabusa2 spacecraft made two touchdowns (landings) on the asteroid Ryuguu, and successfully collected pebbles and sand from Ryuguu. However, the journey to that point was more difficult than expected. This presentation will look back on Hayabusa2's observations during the year and a half it spent with Ryuguu, and introduce the difficulties it faced and how we overcame them to touch down on Ryuguu.

What's in the ball-packet from Ryuguu?　~ Prospects for future analysis

Shogo Tachibana (Professor, Graduate School of Science, UTokyo Organization for Planetary and Space Science) Watch video

- Biography -.

D. in Space and Earth Science Department, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University. After working as Assistant Professor at The University of Tokyo, Lecturer and Associate Professor at Hokkaido University, he assumed his current position in 2017. Doctor of Science.

In December 2020, the Hayabusa2 spacecraft delivered a capsule containing pebbles and sand from the surface of Ryuguu as a souvenir of its round-trip trip to the asteroid Ryuguu. The capsule was properly filled with pebbles and sand. Why do scientists think that pebbles and sand from a small celestial body are so valuable? It is because they believe that the history of the solar system is contained in just a few small stones. The capsule delivered by HAYABUSA2 is a jewel box containing 4.6 billion years of the solar system's history. I would like to talk about the Ryugyu pebbles and sand and our plan to analyze them.

Date of the event

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Time

14:00-17:15
*Live lecture and Q&A session (using Slido ) will be held from Koshiba Hall, Faculty of Science Building No. 1.

Please click here to watch the lecture on the day of the event.
YouTube Graduate School of Science, School of Science channel

Admission

Free (No advance registration required. Anyone is welcome to attend.)

Capacity

None (High school and university students as well as the general public are welcome to attend)

Delivery

• A question-and-answer session will be held after each presentation using Slido on the day of the event. Please enter the access code provided on the web page of Slido to participate in the session.
• A recording of the live lectures will be made available at a later date. If you would like to listen to the lecture again, or if you missed the live lecture, please watch it on the Faculty of Science's YouTube channel. Please "subscribe" and enjoy!

Hosted by

Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo

Cooperation by

UTokyo Organization for Planetary and Space Science (UTOPS), Graduate School of Science

Contact

Public Relations Office, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo