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Sakon Lab
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The lab traces where the ingredients of life came from through the dust that stars leave behind.
AboutAbout the lab
Tracing the origin of life through interstellar dust
The Sakon Lab studies what cosmic environments were needed before humans could emerge on Earth, and how common such conditions are.
Heavy elements such as carbon and nitrogen, produced over the course of a star's life, are scattered into their surroundings when the star dies, chemically enriching the universe.
The lab's main methods are infrared observation from the ground and from satellites, and laboratory astrophysics, in which cosmic dust is made in the laboratory.
The lab does not limit itself to particular methods; it tries to move one step at a time toward an answer to this question from every possible angle.
Key terms
- Heavy elements
- Elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. In astronomy, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and others are also called heavy elements.
- Laboratory astrophysics
- Research that reproduces phenomena occurring in space, or materials found in space, with laboratory equipment in order to study them.
- Unidentified infrared (UIR) bands
- Among the infrared radiation reaching us from all over the universe, light at wavelengths whose emitting substances have not been identified.
ResearchResearch themes
The lab's basic methods are ground-based infrared observation (especially time-domain astronomy), infrared observation from space using satellites, and laboratory astrophysics. Using the dust and organic matter scattered when stars die as clues, the lab explores where the ingredients of life came from.
*Illustrative imageMaking Organic Dust in the Laboratory
The lab built an interstellar organic dust synthesis apparatus, which it uses to produce materials that mimic organic dust in space and to analyze their properties. It synthesized nitrogen-containing organic dust and confirmed that it matches the characteristics of the unidentified infrared bands seen in dust formed in novae.
*Illustrative imageExposure Experiments in Space
Using ExHAM, an external platform on the Japanese Experiment Module "Kibo" of the International Space Station, the lab exposes organic dust to the space environment. The research examines how carbon-containing particles weather in space and how organic matter changes as a result.
*Illustrative imageObserving the Universe in Infrared
The lab works on ground-based infrared observation, especially time-domain astronomy, which follows objects that change over time, as well as infrared observation from space using satellites.
*Illustrative imageThe MAGNUM Telescope in Arizona
As part of its efforts such as instrument development, the lab has been involved in the MAGNUM Telescope project in Arizona since 2024.
MembersFaculty
The Sakon Lab's members consist of faculty, graduate research students, and master's students.As of 2025
- Associate ProfessorItsuki Sakon
VoicesStudent voices
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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.
- Top image: “Tarantula Nebula Spitzer 2 (Color Image) - PIA23646” NASA/JPL-Caltech / Public domain (cropped)
- Making Organic Dust in the Laboratory: “Nitrogen-glow” Jurii / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Exposure Experiments in Space: “ISS-48 ExHAM and EFU at Kibo's Exposed Facility” NASA/Takuya Ōnishi (Q5975593) / Public domain (cropped)
- Observing the Universe in Infrared: “ASTRO-F 'AKARI' illust” 宇宙航
空 研究開発機構・宇宙科学研究所(JAXA/ISAS)、 https://www.isas.jaxa.jp/en/researchers/data-policy/ 、 https://www.isas.jaxa.jp/researchers/data-policy/ 、 Originally from NEC. / CC BY 4.0 (cropped) - The MAGNUM Telescope in Arizona: “(140) Mountlemmonobservatory” Yvette Cendes / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Shimasaku Lab): “Webb's First Deep Field” NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Sako Lab): “The Test-Bed Telescope 2 dome at night (eso2107h)” F. Ocaña/J. Isabel/Quasar SR / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Minezaki Lab): “NGC 4151 - HST” Judy Schmidt from USA / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Miyata Lab): “Wolf-Rayet 140 (Webb-MIRI)” NASA/ESA/CSA/STScl/JPL-Caltech / Public domain (cropped)
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