Seven high school students from all over Japan who are interested in space held a training camp at an astronomical observatory in Ibara City, Okayama Prefecture, where they learned the ABCs of astronomical observation under specialized guidance from the staff.

The two-day, one-night training camp held at the Bisei Observatory in Mihoshi-cho, Ibara City, was held for the first time in three years due to the influence of the new coronavirus, and seven high school students from inside and outside the prefecture who were selected through open recruitment participated.

First, the students were taught the necessary knowledge for observation, such as the mechanism of telescopes and the characteristics of light emitted from stars, from staff and astronomy researchers.

Then, we actually operated the "1-centimeter telescope" weighing 2 tons in a dome with a diameter of 3 meters.

Although the surrounding area was covered in fog and it was impossible to see the starry sky, the students learned how to photograph the stars with a telescope and how to analyze the captured light to find out what kind of material the stars are made of.

A female student in her first year of high school from Kanagawa Prefecture said, "I want to work in space and astronomy, so I think it was a step closer to that dream."

Shota Maeno, Chief Engineer of Bisei Observatory, said, "I hope that the experience of researching what interests you and discovering new things will give you an opportunity to find what you want to do."