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Takigawa Lab
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The lab explores the raw materials of the solar system through stardust preserved in meteorites.
AboutAbout the lab
Tracing stardust back to the beginning of the solar system.
Takigawa Lab studies the minerals in dust drifting through space to research the raw materials of the solar system.
At the end of their evolution, stars release large quantities of fine mineral and organic grains into interstellar space, along with gas.
Those grains become the raw material for the next generation of stars and planetary systems, and the solar system, formed 4.6 billion years ago, was born from them as well.
By combining meteorite analysis and experiments with observations of stars, the lab aims to clarify the place of the solar system within the Milky Way Galaxy.
Key terms
- Circumstellar dust
- Fine solid grains made of minerals and organic matter that form around stars
- Presolar grains
- Circumstellar dust that formed before the Sun was born and has survived inside primitive meteorites
- Galactic matter cycle
- The view that matter is exchanged between stars and interstellar space as the Galaxy evolves
ResearchResearch themes
Within the galactic matter cycle, in which matter is exchanged between stars and interstellar space, the lab investigates how unusual and how universal the raw materials of the solar system are. By combining meteorite analysis, experiments that simulate the space environment, and observations of stars, it traces the history from the stars of the generation before the Sun to the formation of the solar system.
*Illustrative imageAnalyzing stardust in meteorites
Using methods from mineralogy and cosmochemistry, the lab analyzes presolar grains: circumstellar dust that formed before the Sun was born and survives, very rarely, in primitive meteorites. It reads the history of formation and alteration recorded in each individual grain.
*Illustrative imageDust experiments simulating space
Experiments that simulate the space environment reproduce how dust forms and how it is altered. They provide clues to a general picture of dust formation and alteration in the Galaxy.
*Illustrative imageObserving dust around stars
Through observations, the lab investigates how dust forms around stars in the late stages of evolution and in the protoplanetary disks surrounding newly born stars.
MembersFaculty
- Associate ProfessorAki TakigawaPublications ↗
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Allende meteorite ( )” Steve Jurvetson / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Analyzing stardust in meteorites: “Presolar SiC X grain” Kathryn Hynes / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Dust experiments simulating space: “Forsterite-Olivine-tmu14b” Robert M. Lavinsky / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Observing dust around stars: “HL Tau protoplanetary disk” ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Itai Lab): “LakeBiwa” Ka23 13 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Tajika Lab): “Snowball Huronian” Oleg Kuznetsov - 3depix - http://3depix.com/ / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Molecular Geochemistry Lab (MGL)): “Diamond by Peter Smyth” Peter Smyth / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Sugita Lab): “Ryugu colored desaturated” Original image taken by JAXA/ISAS, processed by Meli thev, image adjusted by Nrco0e / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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