Estimation of the timescale for public awareness of the latest research results in astronomy in the 1970s

New Value of Reports in School Education as Research Objectives

Abstract

A research report on astronomy created by ordinary junior high school students in 1972 has been discovered. Until now, such past reports in school education have not been considered research objects. However, unlike academic papers and newspaper articles, they provide valuable data for assessing the scientific awareness of the general public in an era before the advent of social media. Moreover, with the digitization of these materials and the significantly reduced cost of preservation, many similar documents are expected to surface in the future. It is therefore crucial to evaluate their value by incorporating insights into the social context of the time while individuals with firsthand knowledge of that period are still alive. This study explores the significance of "past reports in school education" as research materials by analyzing the astronomy-related knowledge that junior high school students could access and investigate at the time. As part of this effort, we compare descriptions of distance measurements to the Moon and the farthest celestial bodies mentioned in the report with the latest research findings available at that time. Through this comparison, we estimate that the dissemination and assimilation of new astronomical findings into general society took approximately four to seven years.