About our department ｜ Department of Earth Science and Astronomy Graduate School of Arts and Sciences The University of Tokyo

About our department

We engage in a wide range of research topics from astronomy to earth and planetary sciences, with both groups working together in collaboration.

The Astronomy group is comprised of researchers in a broad range of fields, including theoretical astrophysics and infrared observational astronomy. In particular, they are working on research topics such as the transport mechanism of solar and celestial plasma, the evolution of proto-planetary systems and planetary discs, the driving mechanisms of supernova explosions, multi-messenger astronomy combining photons, neutrinos, and gravitational waves, the structure of rapidly-rotating compact stars and high-energy phenomena caused by them, and the formation of binary black holes as gravitational wave sources based on the evolution of stars and binary systems.

The Earth and planetary science group is conducting research to elucidate the origin and evolution of the Earth, other planets in and outside the solar system, and other celestial bodies using material science and computational science methods. Currently, four faculty members are enrolled in the group, leveraging each other’s strengths and characteristics to closely collaborate and conduct research and educational activities. Specifically, they are involved in deciphering the solid interior of the Earth from its birth to 500 million years ago, continental growths, the evolution of the atmosphere, oceans, and life, as well as exploring the presence, quantities, and industrial usability of water on the moon and Mars. The group has generated original researches such as evidence of the oldest plate tectonics, traces of life activity, and the presence of water on the moon.

Annual group meeting (Apr.4, 2023)
Numerical simulation of a supernova explosion.
Numerical simulation of magneto-rotational instability in a gas disk.
Photograph of an outcrop of the Nubuagituk epithermal rocks (3.8 billion years old) on the east coast of Hudson Bay, north-eastern Canada. The green areas are basaltic lava and intrusive rocks, and the reddish-brown areas are striated ironstone formations. Evidence of old life has also been found.
Sagrek rock body (3.9 billion years ago) on the east coast of the Labrador Peninsula, north-eastern Canada. The mountains in the distance are the Torngat Mountains associated with the formation of the Columbia supercontinent 1.9 billion years ago. The oldest plate tectonics and evidence of life have been found in this region.
Acasta gneissic body in northwestern Canada. Consists of basaltic rocks and several genera of granitic gneisses that intrude it. The oldest is dated at 4.03 billion years old and is the oldest rock body/rock in existence on Earth.
Isua Epithermal Belt in southern West Greenland (black central belt, the northern end (top of the picture) is covered by the Greenland Ice Sheet). Evidence of the earliest life (3.8 billion years ago), described in high school science textbooks (biology and geology), for example, has been found here.