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Minezaki Lab
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The lab studies the supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies by observing fluctuations in their brightness.
AboutAbout the lab
Probing black holes through flickering light
The lab studies the co-evolution of black holes and galaxies, as well as cosmology, using the methods of time-domain astronomy and focusing mainly on active galactic nuclei.
An active galactic nucleus is an object in which gas falls onto the supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy and emits intense light from a very small region.
Observations are mainly made in infrared and optical light, and X-ray and radio observational data are also used depending on research interests.
The lab is also involved in developing observing instruments for astronomical research and in getting the TAO Telescope and the MAGNUM Telescope up and running.
Key terms
- Active galactic nucleus (AGN)
- A region at the center of a galaxy where gas falls onto the supermassive black hole, sometimes shining brighter than the entire galaxy
- Time-domain astronomy
- Astronomy that follows objects whose brightness or position changes over time and studies those changes themselves
- Adaptive optics
- A technique that rapidly measures the blurring of star images caused by turbulence in Earth's atmosphere and corrects it in real time to obtain sharp images
NewsLab news
A paper by an alumnus who completed the doctoral program has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal
A paper by a doctoral student has been published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
ResearchResearch themes
The lab conducts multiwavelength monitoring observations of time variations in the brightness of active galactic nuclei in infrared, optical, X-ray, and other bands, and investigates their internal structure and emission mechanisms. Building on these findings, it also works on black hole growth, measurement of cosmic expansion, and dark matter, and puts considerable effort into developing observing instruments.
*Illustrative imageStudying Active Galactic Nuclei Through Variability
The interior of an active galactic nucleus is extremely small, making it difficult to study through imaging. The lab tracks changes in brightness in infrared, optical, X-ray, and other bands, and investigates the internal structure and emission mechanisms from the relationships between variations at different wavelengths.
*Illustrative imageProbing the Distant Universe with Active Galactic Nuclei
Using active galactic nuclei, which can become far brighter than their host galaxies, as clues for exploration, the lab works on topics such as the growth of black holes and the measurement of cosmic expansion.
*Illustrative imageGravitational Lensing and Dark Matter
From the brightness ratios and shape changes of the images of gravitationally lensed quasars and submillimeter galaxies, the lab detects small gravitational sources along the path of the light and studies the distribution of cold dark matter.
*Illustrative imageAdaptive Optics
This is research on adaptive optics, which rapidly measures and corrects the blurring of astronomical images caused by atmospheric turbulence. The lab is advancing fundamental research on visible-light adaptive optics systems for small telescopes and an adaptive optics system for the TAO Telescope.
MembersFaculty
The lab's members consist of faculty and students in the doctoral, master's, and undergraduate programs.As of 2025
- Project ProfessorTakeo MinezakiPublications ↗
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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: “NGC 4151 - HST” Judy Schmidt from USA / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Studying Active Galactic Nuclei Through Variability: “Illustration of Active Galactic Nucleus (2007-agns - accretiondisk torus)” NASA/CXC/Ohio State Univ./J.Eastman et al / Public domain (cropped)
- Probing the Distant Universe with Active Galactic Nuclei: “Quasar 3C 273 (opo0303c)” NASA/ESA and J. Bahcall (IAS) / Public domain (cropped)
- Gravitational Lensing and Dark Matter: “Einstein cross” NASA, ESA, and STScI / Public domain (cropped)
- Adaptive Optics: “The Laser Guide Star on the VLT (lgsbeam-jan2007)” ESO / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Izumi Lab): “Artist’s impression of the active galactic nucleus of Messier 77 (eso2203d)” ESO/M. Kornmesser and L. Calçada / CC BY 4.0 (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 (Sakon Lab): “Tarantula Nebula Spitzer 2 (Color Image) - PIA23646” NASA/JPL-Caltech / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Shimasaku Lab): “Webb's First Deep Field” NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI / Public domain (cropped)
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