Astrophysics

shiny lump against a white-grey background

How iron in meteorites could have contributed to the origin of life more

Orange ball surrounded by grayish veil against black background

The James Webb Space Telescope reveals details of the atmospheric composition of the Mini-Neptune GJ 1214 b more

An interdisciplinary team develops a neural network to improve the interpretation of gravitational wave data more

Purple disc with rays emanating vertically upwards and downwards from the disc

New observations reveal how a powerful jet forms around a black hole more

Metal-poor stars are more life-friendly

A star’s chemical composition strongly influences the chances for life on planets in its neighbourhood more

A coloured network that resembles a vortex with a central tightening. The outer areas of the vortex appear blue-greyish with magenta-white islands, while the circular core area appears in deep blue.

James Webb Space Telescope unveils star formation in gas and dust networks of other galaxies more

The picture consists of two square images. On the left are numerous orange spots of different sizes and brightness. On the right is a zoom into the brightest and largest of these spots. There, against the background of many stars, a reddish disc orbits a black sphere lying in the centre. From the surroundings of the black sphere, a violet ray is formed that is directed upwards.

Large-scale observational campaign provides new insights into an assumed black hole binary at the centre of the active galaxy OJ 287 more

Surface of a fictitious planet. It consists of hills of rock. In the background is a lake. The sky has some clouds. Near the horizon a sun shines and bathes the picture in a reddish colour.

Astronomers find rare Earth-mass rocky planet suitable for the search for signs of life more

The airborne observatory SOFIA during its last southern deployment at Christchurch/New Zealand in summer 2022. The 18O observations were performed with the GREAT receiver, built by MPIfR and Cologne University, onboard SOFIA.

First detection of the heavy 18O isotope both in the upper and lower atmosphere of Earth more

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shiny lump against a white-grey background

How iron in meteorites could have contributed to the origin of life more

Purple disc with rays emanating vertically upwards and downwards from the disc

New observations reveal how a powerful jet forms around a black hole more

Metal-poor stars are more life-friendly

A star’s chemical composition strongly influences the chances for life on planets in its neighbourhood more

A coloured network that resembles a vortex with a central tightening. The outer areas of the vortex appear blue-greyish with magenta-white islands, while the circular core area appears in deep blue.

James Webb Space Telescope unveils star formation in gas and dust networks of other galaxies more

The picture consists of two square images. On the left are numerous orange spots of different sizes and brightness. On the right is a zoom into the brightest and largest of these spots. There, against the background of many stars, a reddish disc orbits a black sphere lying in the centre. From the surroundings of the black sphere, a violet ray is formed that is directed upwards.

Large-scale observational campaign provides new insights into an assumed black hole binary at the centre of the active galaxy OJ 287 more

Surface of a fictitious planet. It consists of hills of rock. In the background is a lake. The sky has some clouds. Near the horizon a sun shines and bathes the picture in a reddish colour.

Astronomers find rare Earth-mass rocky planet suitable for the search for signs of life more

View of the sun: This image is a superimposition of two images, taken using the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array in the x-ray range (NuSTAR, green and blue) and the Solar Dynamics Observatory in the ultraviolet range (SDO, reddish). Here, gas is visible with temperatures between 1 and 3 million degrees. In the spectrally fragmented x-rays, the emission lines 3C and 3D of Fe XVII are dominant, as are B and C of Fe XVI.

In future it will be possible to incorporate data from deep space telescopes into the underlying atomic models with a high degree of reliability more

Deepest look yet into the heart of a quasar

International team observes innermost structure of quasar 3C 273 more

Catching the dynamic Coronal Web

Researchers discover an important clue as to what mechanism drives the solar wind more

Composition of several individual images. Background: many bright stars and dark clouds; foreground image 1: section with bright star in the centre and other less bright stars around it; foreground image 2: a thin, white ellipse against a black background and a bright dot is on the ellipse; foreground image 3: a dark, almost circular object surrounded by a distorted bright ring.

The finding promises numerous similar discoveries more

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“A wonderful confirmation of our observations”

Reinhard Genzel of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics on the first image of the galactic centre more

The nebula with the dark band

The active galaxy Centaurus A has made history in radio astronomy more

Scientific highlights 2020

Many publications by Max Planck scientists in 2020 were of great social relevance or met with a great media response. We have selected 13 articles to present you with an overview of some noteworthy research of the year more

“The telescope offers enormous potential”

Peter Predehl from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics on the eRosita mission more

A solar eclipse sheds light on physics

Observations of the cosmic shadow dance on 29 May 1919 substantiated a new scientific view of the world more

The backbone of the night

Like a huge spiral, the Milky Way floats in space more

“The galactic centre offers fantastic opportunities”

Interview with Reinhard Genzel on his observation of an effect of the general theory of relativity more

Migration of stars

Oscillations from the Milky Way disk seem to relocate stars to large vertical distances from their place of birth more

Comet probe reveals dust cloud

Five instruments from the Rosetta spacecraft recorded the eruption of jets of dust on 67P/Chruyumov-Gerasimenko more

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The supermassive giant at the heart of the Milky Way | Interview with Prof. Reinhard Genzel

Interview with Reinhard Genzel, director at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) and architect of the 30-year programme that led to the discovery of the Schwarzschild precession around the black hole at the heart of our Milky Way. Genzel describes the general relativity effect observed by his team and how it can be used to study the galactic gravity trap. more

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