2023 Nobeyama Radio Observatory Special Open Day

July 27, 2023

The Nobeyama Radio Observatory held its special open day.

For the past few years, the event had been held online only,

but this year we were able to set up a booth in person for the first time in a while.

Usually, our products are only sold at the University of Tokyo Co-op in Mitaka or through our web shop,

but at the special open day, we can meet customers and observatory staff directly.

We also make special products that are only available at the open day.

The Day of the Event

The weather forecast predicted heavy rain for the afternoon.

Honyaplan's planned closing time was around 2 PM.

This year, the location changed to the staff parking lot near the 45m radio telescope.

Our merchandise mainly consisted of hand towels and T-shirts.

We also had a sale on rare kids' T-shirts.

We sold T-shirts that aren't available at the University of Tokyo Co-op in Mitaka.

The Mont-bell Wickron material T-shirts are normally only made for this special open day,

and are great for wearing in the mountains.

We also sold a small number of 45m radio telescope 1/500 paper craft kits

and TMT 1/250 styrene craft models.

Other Booths Were Also Thriving

At the neighboring shop, Professor A was selling telescope kits.

Shinshu University's booth had their usual cabbage and... mysterious fruits.

The Radio Education Association was broadcasting "radio-like sounds" which looked fun.

(They were greeting people in Morse code!)

Hoshikuma-san from "Nagano Prefecture is Space Prefecture" was also there.

This year, there was a food area called "Nobeyama Marche" with food trucks,

and after much deliberation, I had spinach curry.

Sudden Downpour

Around 1:30 PM, dark clouds appeared in the distance. And then, thunder.

When thunder strikes in the mountains, you evacuate immediately.

Moreover, the grounds where the Nobeyama Radio Observatory is located are flat and wide open.

Since it was just about 2 PM, we accelerated our closing.

The people at the surrounding tents were also getting restless.

I really wanted to say goodbye to everyone, but... it started pouring in no time.

Just barely safe (or maybe not), everyone from Honyaplan got into the car.

A Fun Side Story

Just as we started the car to leave,

we noticed Professor A calling for help outside the car,

so we gave them a ride to their car.

After that,

hail mixed with the heavy rain, and visibility was down to 10 centimeters.

We literally couldn't see ahead with the naked eye.

After driving for a while, we managed to escape the storm zone,

saying "That was a perfect evacuation, we won! That was fun!"

as we returned to Kofu.

We'll be back again next time if we're called.

Thank you very much.

Online Lecture Archive

The "online lecture archive" will be available for viewing for a while.

Morning Session

[Morning Session] Nobeyama Radio Observatory Special Open Day 2023 Online Lecture

Nobeyama Radio Observatory Special Open Day 2023 Online Lecture: Researchers will explain the mysteries of the universe seen through radio waves, state-of-the-art equipment, and the latest results in an easy-to-understand manner. We look forward to your questions! Morning session: "Learn about Radio Astronomy!" Target: Elementary school students and up Time: 7/22 (Sat) 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM 08:18 Opening Takekawa...

YouTube

Afternoon Session

[Afternoon Session] Nobeyama Radio Observatory Special Open Day 2023 Online Lecture

Nobeyama Radio Observatory Special Open Day 2023 Online Lecture: Up-and-coming researchers will introduce the forefront of astronomy. We look forward to your questions! Afternoon session: "45-meter Research Presentation" Target: General public Time: 7/22 (Sat) 1:30 PM - 4:15 PM 07:45 Afternoon Opening 10:30 "Intermediate Mass Black Holes" Miyuki Kaneko...

YouTube