Norio Kaifu | |
|---|---|
| 海部宣男 | |
 Kaifu in 2015 | |
| Born | (1943-09-21)21 September 1943 |
| Died | 13 April 2019(2019-04-13) (aged 75) |
| Alma mater | University of Tokyo[1] |
| Known for | President ofInternational Astronomical Union from 2012–2015 |
| Awards | Nishina Memorial Prize, 1987 Japan Academy Prize, 1997 Mainichi Book-Review Award, 2011 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy |
| Institutions | National Astronomical Observatory of Japan |
Norio Kaifu (海部 宣男,Kaifu Norio; 21 September 1943 – 13 April 2019) was a Japaneseastronomer. He was best known as the president of theInternational Astronomical Union (IAU) from 2012 to 2015.[2] He directed theSubaru telescope project, which housed the largest monolithicprimary mirror in the world from its commission until 2005. Kaifu researched inradio astronomy,extragalactic astronomy, cosmic magnetic fields, non-stable stars, andinfrared astronomy.[3] The minor planet6412 Kaifu is named in his honor.[4]
Kaifu died ofpancreatic cancer on 13 April 2019, at the age of 75.[5][6]
Kaifu graduated from theUniversity of Tokyo in 1972 with a PhD inradio astronomy.[7] In the early 1980s, he organized bilateral collaborations with British astronomers, including theUnited Kingdom Infrared Telescope, which improved relations with international astronomers. He also began working with astronomers in China, South Korea, and Taiwan, and formed the East Asian Core Observatories Association, which built the East Asian Observatory in 2014.[8] He became the chairman of the Radio Astronomy Division of theNational Astronomical Observatory of Mitaka from 1988 to 1990, and associate director from 1992 to 1996.[9] In 1990, he was invited to join the Japanese Large Telescope Project, and became the founding director of theSubaru telescope.[10][11] The telescope still remains as one of the largest telescopes in the world.[12] From 2000 to 2006, Kaifu was the director of theNational Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), and led the construction of theNobeyama Radio Observatory, which became Japan's first large inter-university research facility in astronomy.[13] He then served in theScience Council of Japan as president of the Natural Science & Engineering Division from 2005 to 2011. He acted as the single point of contact for theInternational Year of Astronomy 2009 in Japan.[7] Kaifu taught at theOpen University of Japan from 2007 to 2012;[9] from 2012 to 2015, he was elected president of theInternational Astronomical Union (IAU).[14] In his lifetime, he published over 150 papers and 30 books, and was a regular reviewer of the Japanese newspaperMainichi Shimbun.[8]
Kaifu became widely known for his research intoradio spectroscopy. While working on the 6-meter millimeter wave telescope at the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory, he developed radio spectrometers, which began to detect several molecules in the atmosphere after the telescope's completion in 1982.[8][15] He helped develop theacousto-optical spectrometer used in the Nobeyama 45 meter radio telescope.[4] This spectrometer had more than ten times the bandwidth and channels of other spectrometers at the time.[16] He and his team carried out surveys of spectral lines and discovered more than a dozen molecules, most of which were organic.[17] His work also helped develop the first clear evidence of a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.[8] Kaifu led research onstar formation and laid the foundations for fields such as the direct observation of exoplanets and the evolution ofprotoplanetary disks.[5]
Kaifu is a cousin toNobel laureate physicistMakoto Kobayashi[18] and former Japanese prime ministerToshiki Kaifu.[19][20]
(6412) Kaifu...Named in honor of Norio Kaifu (1943–), recently appointed the first director of the 8.2-m Subaru Telescope in Hawaii, following his direction of the construction of that telescope during the past six years. He also played an important role in the construction of the 45-m millimeter-wave radio telescope at the Nobeyama Radio Observatory, in particular, by his development of the acousto-optical spectrometer, a powerful instrument for very high resolution able to identify many interstellar molecular lines. Kaifu served as chairman of the Radio Astronomy Division of the National Astronomical Observatory at Mitaka during 1988–1990 and as associate director during 1992–1996.
In August when the Voyager II of NASA was approaching the Neptune, Prime Minister Kaifu came into power. Mr. Toshiki Kaifu is a relative of Professor Norio Kaifu of the Radio Astronomy Division of the National Astronomical Observatory, and had worked as the Minister of Education. He knew big projects in the field of astronomy, so he had a tough side when debating.
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