About the Division of Science

Modern astronomy covers anything in time and space, from the past to the future of the Universe, from cosmology to stars and planets. Observational astronomy utilizes not only visible and radio electromagnetic waves, but also a wide range of electromagnetic waves, gravitational waves, neutrinos, and cosmic rays. On the other hand, theoretical astronomy, which had traditionally used paper and pencil, has been enhanced by the development of numerical simulations reproducing astronomical objects in supercomputers.

Astronomy now has entered a new era. The collaboration of theory and observation allows astronomers to interpret observations obtained from state-of-the-art instruments such as the Subaru Telescope and ALMA with numerical simulations and to understand the nature and origin of astronomical phenomena. Multi-messenger astronomy combining electromagnetic waves and other messengers, such as the observations by the Subaru Telescope targeting gravitational wave sources, is developing and revealing the nature of multi-messenger objects. Multiwavelength astronomy combining X-rays, optical infrared, and radio waves is advancing rapidly.

The Division of Science studies anything in time and space, from the past to the future of the Universe, from cosmology to stars and planets and leads the development of the combination of theory and observation and multi-messenger astronomy.