The Infrared Astronomical Mission AKARI

Abstract

Abstract AKARI, the first Japanese satellite dedicated to infrared astronomy, was launched on 2006 February 21, and started observations in May of the same year. AKARI has a 68.5 cm cooled telescope, together with two focal-plane instruments, which survey the sky in six wavelength bands from mid–to far-infrared. The instruments also have a capability for imaging and spectroscopy in the wavelength range 2-180$\mu$m in the pointed observation mode, occasionally inserted into a continuous survey operation. The in-orbit cryogen lifetime is expected to be one and a half years. The All-Sky Survey will cover more than 90% of the whole sky with a higher spatial resolution and a wider wavelength coverage than that of the previous IRAS all-sky survey. Point-source catalogues of the All-Sky Survey will be released to the astronomical community. Pointed observations will be used for deep surveys of selected sky areas and systematic observations of important astronomical targets. These will become an additional future heritage of this mission.

Keywords

Affiliated Institutions

• University of California, Berkeley US
• Seoul National University KR
• Space Research Organisation Netherlands NL
• Kangwon National University KR
• Institute of Space and Astronautical Science JP
• The Open University GB
• Tokyo Institute of Technology JP
• University of Groningen NL
• Shizuoka University JP
• National Institute of Information and Communications Technology JP
• European Space Research and Technology Centre NL
• European Space Astronomy Centre ES
• National Institutes of Natural Sciences JP
• Nagoya University JP
• Rutherford Appleton Laboratory GB
• Nagoya City Science Museum JP
• Imperial College London GB
• Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency JP
• Gunma Astronomical Observatory JP
• Japan Science and Technology Agency JP
• Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics DE
• University of Sussex GB
• The University of Tokyo JP
• Tohoku University JP
• National Astronomical Observatory of Japan JP
• Kyung Hee University KR

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