The significance of participation by looking back on the memories of those who have participated in the Koshien National Convention of Science, the memories of working hard with friends for the preliminary round and the main convention, their career choices, activities after entering university, and the impact on the way of studying and researching. I was asked to talk about.

Of course, as a researcher, he has begun to improve his achievements. "The stars are attracted to each other by gravity, and their movements can be described based on the universal gravitational law F = GMm / r ^ 2, which is also learned in high school. However, the movement of each star is expressed by such a simple equation. In addition, galaxies, which are a group of galaxies, have various shapes, motions, and properties. One of them is a spiral structure. It is very strange, isn't it? It also has shapes and properties due to its interaction with surrounding galaxies. Is also known to change.

One way to solve these mysteries is to observe each star in detail.Fortunately, there are many galaxies in the universe, but the Milky Way galaxy is the closest to us and easy to observe.The stars I observe are red supergiants, symbolized by Betelgeuse and Antares, which weigh more than 10 times the Sun.It is very heavy and has a short life, but it is swelling and very bright, so it can be observed even from a distance.Since many of them are scattered in the Milky Way galaxy, I thought that it would be possible to know the current appearance of the entire galaxy by observing it closely.

However, it is also known that red supergiants are fat, vibrate, and have convection, and their surface is thin and not a beautiful sphere these days.Therefore, there is a question as to whether this "strange star" can be used as the basis for understanding the Milky Way galaxy.That is why we first need to deepen our understanding of ourselves before using it to study the Milky Way galaxy.In any case, it took three or four years to reach the point where the surface temperature of the red supergiant was accurately measured *.There are still many issues to be solved, but I would like to continue my research with the Milky Way galaxy and the red supergiant. "

Mr. Taniguchi who participated in the 2019st and XNUMXnd National Convention of Science Koshien.Also, in XNUMX, he appeared as an alumnus in the press release before the annual convention in February.He was one step behind in XNUMXth place in the second round, and experienced the regret that the whole team could not reach the podium.

The reason I went to Koshien in Science was that I was invited by a member from a senior in the Physics Research Department who had been in junior high school.When he was in his first year of high school, when his first appearance overlapped with his first appearance, he passed the qualifying and finished XNUMXth in the national tournament.He struggled with XNUMXth place in the XNUMXnd tournament as a main member, but unfortunately missed the sponsor award.He recalls that it was good to participate in the event, "I became more confident with the members of the team than in club activities and other daily activities."The reason is, "At that time, club activities had an atmosphere where each person did what they liked. However, at Science Koshien, it is necessary to tackle cross-curricular issues that are difficult to solve without a team."

Recently, in addition to research on the Milky Way galaxy, we have also started a unique research that "integrates astronomy and meteorology" **, but we are collaborating on this research with Kazuya Yamazaki, a third-year doctoral student in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the same university. Mr. Miss.He is actually a classmate at the time of middle 1 and high XNUMX who became friends while trying hard to aim for science Koshien.

"At first, I had a relationship with Yamazaki-kun that I talked to occasionally, but through the science Koshien, I quickly became friends, and even after graduating from high school, I went to the same university and faculty, so I regularly talk about each other's specialties. I have exchanged information, etc. This research is also a solidification of ideas. Using meteorological satellites, images of Betelgius can be obtained constantly all year round. Mr. Yamazaki is a meteorologist using numerical simulations, etc. Is specialized and is good at handling meteorological satellite data. "

At Science Koshien, unlike the International Science Olympiad and its domestic qualifying rounds, the emphasis is on working hard as a team.In addition to writing competitions, there are plenty of handicrafts (practical skills) and experiments, and the total score is occupied.
Since the weight is high, the academic performance of each subject is not the only thing.

"Recently, it seems that junior high and high school students often appear in the upper ranks, but since the emphasis on practical skills and experiments has not changed, even for the students of these schools, move their hands in a muddy manner and discuss firmly with their peers. I think it will be a good opportunity to know the importance of this, "says Mr. Taniguchi.

"In fact, general competitions such as" Making a container to put as much soil as possible in Koshien "(XNUMXst), pre-opening experimental competitions such as" Nada no Sake "(XNUMXnd), and advance for the day of the competition. The experience of working on preparation is also useful for analyzing various data through trial and error, and the experience of working as a team is used to deepen research and collaborate with each other while discussing with colleagues. It was an opportunity to know that things are important. "

Finally, for high school students, Mr. Taniguchi said, "Unfortunately, the national tournament in the form of a training camp was not held this year, and I think that the current high school students are disappointed, but that disappointment was expressed at the post corona. I want you to hit various activities. Also, the remaining second graders and first graders who are new to the school will work together as a team to prepare for the qualifying for the 12th tournament next year and make the tournament exciting. I'm looking forward to it. "And, "Even if you can't break through the qualifying, even if you don't get high grades in the national tournament, you can't do club activities and inquiry activities such as preparation for qualifying, experience of qualifying, and interaction with players from other schools. It must be a different and valuable experience. "

* "Measurement of body temperature of fat stars" (MNRAS, 502, 4210: 2021.3.1)
https://www.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ja/press/2021/7248/

* * Received the "Collaboration Award" of the Konica Minolta Image Science Encouragement Award in the XNUMXrd year of Reiwa for "Creation of" Time Region Stellar Astronomy Utilizing Meteorological Satellite (Himawari XNUMX) "