Max Planck Institute for Astronomy

Max Planck Institute for Astronomy

Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences – and yet also one of the most modern. The Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg is proof of this. The researchers here decipher the mysteries of the universe with high-tech instruments, constructing clever add-ons and detectors for telescopes and satellites which examine the light from cosmic sources according to all the laws of physics. Infant stars and the birth of planetary systems are but two objects of their scientific curiosity. “Is Earth the only inhabited place in the universe?” is one of their burning research questions. The Max Planck astronomers also travel through the depths of space and time, investigating active galaxies and quasars to gain an idea of the beginning and the development of today’s richly structured universe.

Contact

Königstuhl 17
69117 Heidelberg
Phone: +49 6221 528-0
Fax: +49 6221 528-246

PhD opportunities

This institute has an International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS):

IMPRS for Astronomy and Cosmic Physics

In addition, there is the possibility of individual doctoral research. Please contact the directors or research group leaders at the Institute.

Department Planet and Star Formation

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Department Atmospheric Physics of Exoplanets

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Department Galaxies and Cosmology

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Department Planet and Star Formation

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Colored drawing of a thick ring in the center with cone-shaped streams in opposite directions, both viewed from the side

Nested morphology of gas streams confirms a mechanism that helps infant stars to grow by ingesting disk material.

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In the foreground to the left is a sphere half illuminated on the right side, almost filling the image vertically. The surface consists of several parallel, pale-coloured bands aligned horizontally. To the top right is a much smaller orange, circular light source, illuminating the large sphere in the foreground. The background is black with numerous tiny white dots.

An image of the the James Webb Space Telescope shows the oldest and coldest known exoplanet

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First clear evidence of conditions varying between the morning and evening transition zones separating the day and night sides of a tidally locked hot Jupiter

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From left to right: The globular star cluster Omega Centauri as a whole, a zoomed-in version of the central area, and the region in the very center with the location of the mid-size black hole that was identified in the present study marked.

With 8200 solar masses, the black hole fills the evolutionary gap between stellar and supermassive black holes

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Orange-brown torus with two white rays and various grey lumps extending into black along its axis of symmetry

Surprisingly unspectacular: Black hole already weighed over a billion solar masses in early universe despite average appetite 

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The galaxies we see around us have had a turbulent past, full of collisions, plentiful gas flows, and bursts of increased star formation. Our home galaxy is no exception. A team led by Hans-Walter Rix at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy is reconstructing the Milky Way’s history in a process that resembles archaeological research.

Six months after its launch, the James Webb telescope has delivered its first images, revealing fascinating insights into distant galaxies as well as turbulent scenarios encompassing the birth and death of stars. The space observatory has also captured the spectra of exoplanets. The Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg was involved in building the instruments.

Two years ago, a new department opened at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg in which researchers study the atmospheres of extrasolar planets. Its young director, Laura Kreidberg, has made a name for herself with some of the first observations of these worlds and is one of the lucky ones who will get to observe with the new James Webb Space Telescope.

The chemistry of a star contains valuable information such as its history or affiliation with a particular stellar population. But accurate detection of abundances of chemical elements based on spectral fingerprints require highly sophisticated methods. Maria Bergemann from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg has set new standards here.

Stars cluster in galaxies of dramatically different shapes and sizes: elliptical galaxies, spheroidal galaxies, lenticular galaxies, spiral galaxies, and occasionally even irregular galaxies. Nadine Neumayer at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg and Ralf Bender at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching investigate the reasons for this diversity. They have already identified one crucial factor: dark matter.

Postdoctoral Positions (m/f/d) | Planet and Star Formation

Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg October 10, 2024

Postdoctoral Position (m/f/d) | Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby Galaxies (PHANGS)

Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg October 09, 2024

Postdoctoral Prize Fellowships and Postdoctoral Positions (m/f/d) | Galaxies and Cosmology

Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg September 23, 2024

Tenure-Track Max Planck Research Group Leader (m/f/d) | Atmospheric Physics of Exoplanets (Apex 378)

Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg September 13, 2024

Rocky planets could harbour water already at birth

2023 Markus Nielbock, Giulia Perotti, Thomas Henning

Astronomy Astrophysics

Water is essential for life, at least on Earth. The question of its origin is therefore central to the chance of life on other Earth-like planets. Through observations with the James Webb Space Telescope, we have now found evidence for a mechanism that supplies potentially habitable planets with water during their formation. The JWST/MIRI data indicate a substantial reservoir of water in the central region of a planet-forming disk of gas and dust around the young star PDS 70, where Earth-like planets may be forming.

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The exotic weather of the hot Jupiter WASP-121 b

2022 Thomas Mikal-Evans

Astronomy Astrophysics

Through observations of the exoplanet WASP-121 b with the Hubble Space Telescope, we have studied the atmospheric conditions on the night side of a hot Jupiter in detail for the first time. Incorporating measurements from the dayside, we determined the temperature profile in the stratosphere and an unusual water cycle between the two hemispheres. This study is a significant step towards deciphering the global matter and energy cycles in the atmospheres of exoplanets.

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Raw material for new stars

2021 Syed, Jonas

Astronomy Astrophysics

From the data of the THOR survey led at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA), we have identified one of the longest known structures in the Milky Way, stretching some 3900 light years and consisting almost entirely of atomic hydrogen gas. This filament, called Maggie, could represent a link in the stellar matter cycle. Our analysis suggests that locally the atomic gas binds to molecular hydrogen there. Compressed in large clouds, this material ultimately forms stars.

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How to weigh a quasar

2021 Dr. Felix Bosco, Dr. Jörg-Uwe Pott

Astronomy Astrophysics

We have successfully tested the performance of a new method for determining the masses of extreme black holes in quasars, called spectroastrometry, for the first time through observations. It measures radiation coming from gas in the vicinity of supermassive black holes. Compared to other weighing techniques, it is relatively straightforward and efficient to perform using modern large telescopes. Its high sensitivity makes it possible to study the surroundings of luminous quasars and supermassive black holes in the early Universe.

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The cosmic commute towards star and planet formation

2020 Henshaw, Jonathan D.

Astronomy Astrophysics

The molecular material in giant molecular gas clouds travels along intricate networks of filamentary gas lanes towards the congested centres of gas and dust where it is compressed into stars and planets. Astronomers have measured the motion of gas flowing from galaxy scales down to the dimensions of the gas clumps within which individual stars form. Their results show that the gas pervading each scale is dynamically interconnected: while star and planet formation occurs on the smallest dimensions, this process is controlled by a cascade of matter flows that begin on galactic scales.

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