 | |
| Company type | Specified Nonprofit Corporation |
|---|---|
| Industry | astronomy |
| Founded | October 20, 1996[1] |
| Headquarters | Tokyo ,Japan |
| Revenue | non-profit |
| Website | www |
TheJapan Spaceguard Association (日本スペースガード協会,nihon supēsugādo kyōkai; abbreviated JSGA) is anot-for-profit organization based inTokyo, Japan. Its formal status under the Japanese law is Specified Nonprofit Corporation (特定非営利活動法人).
The aims of the Japan Spaceguard Association (JSGA) echoes that ofThe Spaceguard Foundation and otherspaceguard movements: to protect the Earth's environment from a disastrousnear-Earth object (NEO) collision by studying and observing the NEOs.[2]
JSGA operates theBisei Spaceguard Center, owned by the Japan Space Forum, to achieve their goal. It is located nearBisei town in the western Japan. In addition to the search for NEOs, this facility will be used to track debris inEarth's orbit. TheMinor Planet Center credits JSGA with the discovery of the main-belt asteroid(21309) 1996 XH5, made atKiso Observatory on 6 December 1996.[3][4]
JSGA as being aSpecified Nonprofit Corporation [ja], it is keen to have astronomical education for young people and in 2001 heldSpaceguardPrivate Investigators of the Stars:the fugitives are asteroids! rally as part of its asteroid monitoring project.[5]Yoshiaki Oshima was seated at the operating committee and the jury, and JSGA submitted a paper on that project in a proceedings.[6][notes 1] British Council advised JSGA for its contest and supported them to present their project to observatories and laboratories.
To run the contest and along with the Bisei Spaceguard Center, an optical telescope on theCanary island operated byLiverpool John Moores University inLiverpool transmitted images to each participant via internet connection. In total, 438 school classes and other teams signed up with 1,317 people, and 133 group and individual contestants reported the results of their observation. TheYomiuri Shimbun newspaper sponsored the project and run articles reporting the progress of the contest.
The Liverpool John Moores University and theirAstrophysics Research Institute operates the National Schools' Observatory program with a robotic telescope on theCanary Islands, and schools in the United Kingdom register to monitor asteroids from remoted locations.[8] They cosponsored the International Schools' Observatory (ISO) programBritish Council had organized,[notes 2] when 12 teams of junior high to senior high school classes took part from Asian and European countries.
The contestants for Spaceguard Private Investigators of the Stars sent their reports due March 4, 2001, and JSGA examined 133 reports over the period of two weeks. On 14 March the jury meeting was held, and winners were announced on Yomiuri Shimbun on 20 March 2001. Award overview as well as assessment comments were published along with presentation report and interviews to awardees. JSGA presented the prospectus for future astronomic education and asteroid hunting projects.[7]
Members include Atsuo Asami (浅見 敦夫,Asami Atsuo), a Japaneseastronomer who operates the Hadano Astronomical Observatory, located about 60 km southwest ofTokyo,[10][11] Takeshi Urata and Yoshiaki Oshima.[11]
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)| International | |
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