Galaxies

Galaxies

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

Deepest look yet into the heart of a quasar

International team observes innermost structure of quasar 3C 273 more

Energetic Winds from the Triangulum Galaxy

Radio observations reveal a complex scenario for the interplay between star formation and the interstellar medium in Messier 33 more

A radio telescope opens up new horizons

The European observatory NOEMA reaches full capacity with twelve antennas more

A still image of the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*, as seen by the Event Horizon Collaboration (EHT), with an artist’s illustration indicating where the modelling of the ALMA data predicts the hot spot to be and its orbit around the black hole.

Researchers discover a hot spot near the black hole Sagittarius A* with the radio telescope ALMA more

A glimpse at the star factory in the Galactic Center

Star formation started off near the center of our home galaxy and then worked its way outwards more

Galaxies behind a gravitational magnifier

The James Webb Telescope reveals extremely distant objects more

Preparing for the world’s biggest radio telescope

Astronomers simulate physical processes in the interstellar medium of galaxies at “Cosmic Noon” for future SKAO observations more

The universe in a new dimension

Astronomical objects appear in unprecedented detail in the first images from the James Webb Telescope more

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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

Deepest look yet into the heart of a quasar

International team observes innermost structure of quasar 3C 273 more

A radio telescope opens up new horizons

The European observatory NOEMA reaches full capacity with twelve antennas more

A still image of the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*, as seen by the Event Horizon Collaboration (EHT), with an artist’s illustration indicating where the modelling of the ALMA data predicts the hot spot to be and its orbit around the black hole.

Researchers discover a hot spot near the black hole Sagittarius A* with the radio telescope ALMA more

Galaxies behind a gravitational magnifier

The James Webb Telescope reveals extremely distant objects more

Preparing for the world’s biggest radio telescope

Astronomers simulate physical processes in the interstellar medium of galaxies at “Cosmic Noon” for future SKAO observations more

The universe in a new dimension

Astronomical objects appear in unprecedented detail in the first images from the James Webb Telescope more

An image of the Milky Way`s black hole

Observation with the Event Horizon Telescope improves our understanding of the processes at the galactic centre more

The wild years of our Milky Way galaxy

Astronomers reconstruct the turbulent past life of our home galaxy 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 backbone of the night

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

Migration of stars

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

The far side of the Milky Way

Astronomers achieve record measurement for an improved picture of our home galaxy more

Ring around a dwarf planet detected

Ten observatories put their sight on the dwarf planet more

<p>4.6 billion-year-old galaxy shines light on our universe</p>

A distant galaxy's effects on radio waves provide clues about the formation of cosmic magnetic fields more

Shedding light on the cosmic web

Astronomers use the light of double quasars to measure the structure of the universe more

Less dark matter in distant galaxies?

Milky Way systems in the early universe consist mainly of gas and stars 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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