Kiso Observatory Dome & Star Sky

A Telescope on the Mountain Ridge

This live camera frames the great dome of the Kiso Observatory, perched on a forested ridge with its rounded silhouette set against a vast, open sky. Operated by the University of Tokyo's Institute of Astronomy, the station sits high above the surrounding valleys, where thin, clear mountain air makes it one of Japan's premier windows on the cosmos.

Meteors, Stars and Wide-Field Surveys

The observatory is renowned for its wide-field Schmidt telescope and the Tomo-e Gozen survey camera, which scans huge swaths of sky for meteors, supernovae and other fleeting events. Under its famously dark skies, the feed reveals drifting constellations, the arc of the Milky Way, and the occasional bright streak of a shooting star.

Wilderness of the Kiso Mountains

Framing the dome are the steep, tree-cloaked slopes of the Kiso mountains in Nagano, a remote and quiet corner of central Japan. Layered ridges recede toward the horizon, and the surrounding forest underscores just how far this scientific outpost stands from the lights of the cities below — exactly why its pristine dark skies draw astronomers here.