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National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

The Subaru Telescope Hails Return of Hayabusa2

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Hayabusa2 (the point of light at the center) captured by the Subaru Telescope.
Animation with the five images taken. Hayabusa2 is the point of light moving in the lower right direction near the center of the image. The field of view of the image is 5.0 arcmin × 2.0 arcmin. (Credit: NAOJ)

On November 20, 2020 (Hawaiʻi Standard Time), the Subaru Telescope captured Hayabusa2 on its way back to Earth after exploring the asteroid (162173) Ryugu.

Hayabusa2, an asteroid explorer operated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), is set to drop off a capsule containing samples from the asteroid on December 6 (JST). To quickly photograph the spacecraft traveling back to Earth, the Subaru Telescope conducted observations utilizing the time between scientific observations.

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