Scientific Goals and Missions - Mizusawa VLBI Observatory

Purpose

As a research center for observational astronomy using Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), Mizusawa VLBI Observatory develops and maintains its VLBI network and related technologies, and provides them to user community in order to promote observational astronomy with ultra-high angular resolution.

Missions

The missions of this project are as follows:

1. The observatory maintains the existing VERA network and related instruments and operates the East Asia VLBI observation network in collaboration with Asian countries, and provides observation opportunities to domestic and international user communities for promoting VLBI astronomy.
2. The observatory makes full use of observing time of the VERA stand-alone mode as a large-scale joint observation program in collaboration with the user community.
3. The observatory promotes astronomy research based on global-scale collaboration such as international millimeter-wave VLBI as well as centimeter-wave/low-frequency VLBI.

Primary Scientific Goals

The primary scientific goals of this project are:

1. To produce cutting-edge science results in the study of supermassive black holes regarding jet formation, acceleration, collimation mechanisms and so on based on ultra-high-resolution observations of active galactic nuclei.
2. To elucidate dynamic picture of massive star formation by high-resolution maser observations, and to promote research on late-type stars and the structure of the Milky Way via maser monitoring.
3. To explore the possibility of VLBI observations of objects other than above with the aim of expanding its research field.

Target Date

End of March 2028