DATE2026.01.13 #Awards & Prizes
Nanae Tsuchimoto won the 42nd Inoue Academic Encouragement Award
Ms. Nanae Domoto
Ms. Nanae Domoto, a JSPS Research Fellow at the Research Center for the Early Universe, has been awarded the 42nd Inoue Research Award for Young Scientists. This award recognizes her doctoral dissertation submitted to the Department of Astronomy, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, entitled “Deciphering Optical and Near-Infrared Spectra of Neutron Star Mergers and Understanding Heavy-Element Nucleosynthesis.
Ms. Domoto’s research addresses one of the major unsolved problems in astrophysics: the origin of heavy elements. In 2017, a neutron star merger was detected through gravitational-wave observations, and a kilonova—an optical and near-infrared transient—was observed from about one day to roughly one week after the merger. As the name implies, neutron stars are extremely rich in neutrons, and when they merge, a portion of neutron-rich matter is ejected. Within this ejecta, neutrons are captured by atomic nuclei, leading to the formation of elements heavier than iron, which are then dispersed into the Universe.
In brief, Ms. Domoto’s major achievement lies in identifying absorption lines of lanthanum and cerium through detailed analyses of kilonova spectroscopic data, thereby providing clear evidence that heavy elements were indeed synthesized in this neutron star merger. Behind this achievement, however, lies an enormous effort: she independently advanced atomic-structure calculations of heavy elements, evaluated atomic–radiation interaction rates, and performed radiative-transfer simulations within kilonova ejecta. Research aimed at unraveling the production of heavy elements in the Universe through light emitted from neutron star mergers has only just begun, and further developments in Ms. Domoto’s work are highly anticipated.
（written by：Associate Professor, Research Center for the Early Universe)