Japan Research Team to Set Up Country’s 1st Radio Telescope in Antarctica; Test Observations of Milky Way Galaxy to Begin in FY26

The Yomiuri Shimbun

20:00 JST, June 10, 2025

A small radio telescope that is 30 centimeters in diameter will be set up in Antarctica by a team from the University of Tsukuba and other entities. The team will begin conducting test observations next fiscal year.

It will be the first time that a Japanese radio telescope will be installed on the continent. A radio telescope captures radio waves from space in order to observe areas of the universe that are invisible in visible light.

The team also plans to build an international observation base equipped with a large radio telescope in Antarctica, where the clear air provides excellent observation conditions.

The team is led by the University of Tsukuba and includes researchers from the National Institute of Polar Research and Hokkaido University.

The radio telescope is set to be located about 1,000 kilometers inland from Japan’s Showa Station on the coast of Antarctica. The Japanese observation team already installed the telescope mount and power generation equipment in fiscal 2024. The telescope will be transported to Antarctica by the icebreaker Shirase this fiscal year.

The radio telescope will be set up as high as 3,800 meters above sea level. As the average temperature can be as low as minus 50 C, the air contains virtually no water vapor, which can interfere with radio waves from space. It is usually sunny and clear most of the time in that area, making it an optimal location for conducting observations.

However, as the maximum temperature is only minus 20 C in the summer, the telescope’s electronics might be affected. The team plans to cover the telescope with insulation material and install a heater inside.

The team will conduct test observations of the Milky Way Galaxy, where Earth is located, starting in fiscal 2026 to determine the distribution of gases, as stars are formed when gases clump together.

The United States is currently operating a large radio telescope, which is 10 meters in diameter, in Antarctica, but it is located at the pole where the sky is generally not clear, resulting in poor observation conditions.

The team from the University of Tsukuba will refine observation techniques for low-temperature environments and plans to build an observation base – equipped with a large telescope that will be 12 meters in diameter – in the future. The team aims to have researchers from all over the world stay at the base and observe galaxies that have yet to be discovered.

“We would like to gain more observation experience to realize an international observation base,” said Nario Kuno, professor of radio astronomy at the University of Tsukuba.