Institute of Astronomy,
Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo
2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-0015, Japan
email: isakon"at"ioa.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Professional interests:
- How does the universe work? - How did we get here? - Are we alone?
These are the major "Big Questions" posed in NASA’s field of astrophysics.
In our laboratory, we are particularly interested in exploring what kind of cosmic environments enabled the emergence of humanity on Earth in the solar system, and how common such circumstances might be in the universe.
It is an undeniable fact that the universe, which consisted almost entirely of hydrogen and helium immediately after the Big Bang, has evolved into a chemically rich environment capable of supporting life. This transformation was achieved by the birth of stars, the nucleo-synthesis of heavy elements (in astronomy, even elements like carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen are considered heavy) during the life cycles of stars, and the injection of these elements into space upon mass loss activities associated with stellar death events -- repeated over cosmic time.
However, each of these processes occurs on timescales far exceeding a human lifetime, and the "evidence" that we, with our modern civilization, have been able to collect through astronomical observations remains highly fragmentary.
In our lab, we primarily utilize ground-based infrared astronomy (especially time-domain astronomy), space-based infrared observations via satellites, and laboratory astrophysics as foundational methods. Nevertheless, we do not limit ourselves to these approaches. We aim to challange answering the above questions through every possible method and perspective.
Messages:
I am looking for new graduate students and postdoctral researchers. If you are interested in any one of above topics and as a master's/PhD cource (see here for details) or a postdoctoral researcher (see JSPS 'Postdoctral Fellowship for Research in Japan' program for details), please contact me via e-mail.
Research Topics
Projects involved:
- Infrared Satellite "AKARI" Infrared Camera (IRC) team
- SPICA mission: Mid-infrared Camera and Spectrometer (MCS) team, SPICA Mid-infrared Instrument(SMI) team
- Origins Space Telescope Mission Concept Study (as a JAXA Liaison, Ex-Officio member of Science and Technnology Definition Team)
- Origins Mid-infrared Imager and Spectrometer (MISC) (as a Co-instrument lead with Dr. Thomas L. Roellig)
- Space Exposire Experiment of Organic Dust using Exposed Experiment Handrail Attachment Mechanism (ExHAM) on ISS/KIBO
- Tampopo 2 Mission
Major Publications:
[1] Sakon, I., Roellig, T. L., Ennico-Smith, K., et al., “Mid-infrared spectrometer and camera for the Origins Space Telescope”, Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems (JATIS), 7, 011013 (2021)
[2] Endo, I., *Sakon, I., Onaka, T., Kimura, Y., Kimura, S., Wada, S., Helton, L. A., Lau, R. M., Kebukawa, Y., Muramatsu, Y., Ogawa, N. O., Ohkouchi, N., Nakamura, M., Kwok, S., “On the nature of organic dust in novae”, ApJ, 917, 103 (2021) (*corresponding author) (press release on August 26, 2021)
[3] Sakon, I., Sako, S., Onaka, T., Nozawa, T., Kimura, Y., Fujiyoshi, T., Shimonishi, T., Usui, F., Takahashi, H., Ohsawa, R., Arai, A., Uemura, M., Nagayama, T., Koo, B-C., Kozasa, T., 2016, “Concurrent Formation of Carbon and Silicate Dust in Nova V1280 Sco”, ApJ, 817, 145 (2016)
[4] Sakon, I., Onaka, T., Wada, T., Ohyama, Y., Kaneda, H., Ishihara, D., Tanabe, T., Minezaki, T., Yoshii, Y., Tominaga, N., Nomoto, K., Nozawa, T., Kozasa, T., Tanaka, M., Suzuki, T., Umeda, H., Ohyabu, S., Usui, F., Matsuhara, H., Nakagawa, T., and Murakami, H., “Properties of Newly Formed Dust by SN2006jc Based on Near-to-Mid Infrared Observation with AKARI”, ApJ, 692, 546-555 (2--9) (press release on March 24, 2008)
[5] Sakon, I., Onaka,T., Wada, T., Ohyama, Y., Matsuhara, H., Kaneda, H., Ita, Y., Oyabu, S., Kataza, H., Fujishiro, N., Ihara, C., Ishigaki, M., Ishihara, D., Kim, W., Okada, Y., Takagi, T., Tanabé, T., Uemizu, K., Ueno, M., Usui, F., Watarai, H., Koo, B.-C., Serjeant, S., Nakagawa, T., Matsumoto, T., Murakami, H., 2007, “Properties of UIR Bands in NGC6946 Based on MIR Imaging and Spectroscopy with IRC on Board AKARI”, PASJ, 59S, 483-495 (2007)
[6] Sakon, I., Onaka, T., Kaneda, H., Tokura, D., Takagi, T., Tajiri, Y. Y., Takahashi, H., Kato, D., Onishi, T., Kawamura, A., Fukui, Y., “The Properties of the Mid- to Far-IR Emission in the Large Magellanic Cloud”, ApJ, 651, 174-189 (2006)
[7] Sakon, I., Onaka, T., Ishihara, D., Ootsubo, T., Yamamura, I., Tanabe, T., Roellig, T. L., “The Unidentified Infrared Bands in the Diffuse ISM across the Galaxy Based on the Infrared Telescope in Space (IRTS) Mid-infrared Spectrometer (MIRS) Observation”, ApJ, 609, 203-219 (2004)
