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Kobayashi-Niino Lab
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The lab uses the Kiso Observatory telescope to track astronomical objects whose brightness changes over short timescales.
AboutAbout the lab
Never miss a momentary change in light.
The Kobayashi-Niino Lab studies astronomical objects whose brightness changes over short timescales, using optical observations.
It uses the Schmidt telescope at the University of Tokyo's Kiso Observatory and the Tomo-e Gozen camera, which captures a wide field of sky like a video.
The lab searches for optical counterparts to gravitational waves and FRBs, and also follows flares and variability caused by mass accretion in newly formed young stars.
Any object that can be observed with high-speed optical photometry is a possible target.
Key terms
- Schmidt telescope
- A telescope that combines a mirror and a corrector plate so that it can image a wide area of sky at once
- FRB
- A cosmic phenomenon, not yet well understood, in which strong radio waves arrive for only a few milliseconds. Short for fast radio burst
- Mass accretion
- The process by which gas and dust around a star are pulled by gravity and fall onto its surface
ResearchResearch themes
Using the Schmidt telescope and the Tomo-e Gozen camera at Kiso Observatory, the lab searches for optical transients that occur over short timescales. It is working on detecting counterparts to gravitational waves, FRBs, and GRBs, and on observing the wide range of variability shown by young stars in star-forming regions.
*Illustrative imageCounterparts that shine in response to gravitational waves
When gravitational-wave detectors such as KAGRA detect gravitational waves, the lab searches in optical light for objects that shine at the same location.
*Illustrative imageSearching for counterparts to FRBs
The lab searches for objects that shine in response to FRBs (fast radio bursts), high-energy phenomena that emit brief radio pulses lasting only a few milliseconds.
*Illustrative imageBrightness changes in young stars
Young stars (T Tauri stars) that are on their way from birth to becoming mature stars show active surface phenomena such as flares. The very youngest can show violent variability due to mass accretion, and the lab works on observing it.
*Illustrative imageNearby star-forming regions and young star clusters
The lab observes nearby regions where many young stars are gathered, such as the Taurus molecular cloud and the Orion Nebula.
MembersFaculty
The Kobayashi-Niino Lab has faculty members and students in the doctoral and master's programs.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorNaoto KobayashiPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorYu Niino
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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: “Orion Nebula - Hubble 2006 mosaic 18000” NASA, ESA, M. Robberto (Space Telescope Science Institute/ESA) and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team / Public domain (cropped)
- Counterparts that shine in response to gravitational waves: “Artist’s impression of merging neutron stars” ESO/L. Calçada/M. Kornmesser / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Searching for counterparts to FRBs: “Artist’s impression of a record-breaking fast radio burst (eso2317a)” ESO/M. Kornmesser / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Brightness changes in young stars: “T Tauri in NGC 1555 (noao-ttau)” T. A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage, H. Schweiker/WIYN and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Nearby star-forming regions and young star clusters: “Taurus molecular cloud (eso1209ec)” ESO / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Miyata Lab): “Wolf-Rayet 140 (Webb-MIRI)” NASA/ESA/CSA/STScl/JPL-Caltech / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Motohara Lab): “Hubble-ultra-deep-field-20091208-WFC3-IR-full” NASA / 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)
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