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Japan launched an infrared space telescope* third successful launch since the beginning of 2006

Renamed Akari, Astro-F will gather new information about the birth of stars 

 
  
 Japanese space telescope Akari
 A rocket carrying a satellite and a space telescope was launched from Japan's Yuchinora Space Center last Wednesday (06:28 local time, 21:28 GMT on Tuesday) after a 48-hour delay caused by heavy rain.
The Astro-F satellite takes pictures in the infrared range and is designed to study the light of stars that are hidden from us due to the cosmic dust. European astronomers are collaborating with Japan on a 500-day mission to map the universe. Astro-F will orbit the Earth in a polar orbit and perform a survey in the near and far infrared range of the sky.
An All Sky Survey will be carried out with higher sensitivity than the previous survey carried out by a similar satellite launched in 1983.
"This is a new window into the primordial universe," says Dr. Stephen Sargent, Senior Lecturer in Astrophysics at the Open University in Great Britain. Astro-F is expected to be one of the most important international observatories of the decade." And his colleague Glen White adds that the mission will provide powerful new tools to learn about the birth and formation of stars and planets. "This is going to revolutionize the way we study the formation process of galaxies at the edge of the universe."
Astro-F is the third satellite launched by Japan since the beginning of the year, as the country's space program seeks to close the gap with its regional rival - China.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched two H-2A rockets carrying observation satellites in January and February from the remote southern island of Tangashima.
 
 

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