Solar System

Three interlocking rings of different colors (white-yellow inside, yellow-red in the middle, violet outside) with a bright white dot in the middle from which rays emanate in all directions. In the lower right foreground, various minerals are depicted in front of a black circle. Lines point from the minerals to each ring.

A three-ringed structure in the planet-forming zone of a circumstellar disk where metals and minerals serve as a reservoir of planetary building blocks more

In the background: a black surface with isolated bright small dots representing stars.
In the foreground: the left half of the image consists of a grey sphere with various shades and stripes, illuminated from a distance by a yellow light source.

Discovery of giant exomoons around the planets Kepler-1625b and Kepler-1708b called into question more

Glowing Jupiter against a black background

A collision nearly 30 years ago permanently changed Jupiter's atmospheric chemistry; the aftermath is still helping to better understand the gas giant. more

Bright glowing ball in the right centre of the image lies in the middle of a reddish glowing band viewed from the side. A small planet is hidden in the middle of this band and in the left half of the image.

How an exoplanet survived the rebellion of its home star more

shiny lump against a white-grey background

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

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

Against the black background of space a gray, irregularly shaped asteroid is shown, covered with craters.

A computer simulation describes the building blocks of our solar system at a time when it was still being formed more

Catching the dynamic Coronal Web

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

A traveler from the edge of the Solar System

Iron isotopes in samples from asteroid Ryugu suggest its origin to lie beyond the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn more

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In the background: a black surface with isolated bright small dots representing stars.
In the foreground: the left half of the image consists of a grey sphere with various shades and stripes, illuminated from a distance by a yellow light source.

Discovery of giant exomoons around the planets Kepler-1625b and Kepler-1708b called into question more

Bright glowing ball in the right centre of the image lies in the middle of a reddish glowing band viewed from the side. A small planet is hidden in the middle of this band and in the left half of the image.

How an exoplanet survived the rebellion of its home star more

shiny lump against a white-grey background

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

Catching the dynamic Coronal Web

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

A traveler from the edge of the Solar System

Iron isotopes in samples from asteroid Ryugu suggest its origin to lie beyond the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn more

Sunrise III found safe at landing site

The balloon-borne solar telescope has survived the termination of its flight well more

Asteroid treasure in the Hubble archive

The data of the space telescope contain the traces of many unknown celestial bodies more

First rays of sunlight for Sunrise III

The ballon-borne observatory has reached an important milestone more

Organic compounds on Ceres

Researchers also find salt deposits in an impact crater on the dwarf planet more

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A unique look at Saturn's ravioli moons

Measurements from the last phases of the Cassini mission show how dynamic processes in the Saturnian system shape the moons Pan, Daphnis, Atlas, Pandora, and Epimetheus. more

Recipe for a comet

Rearchers analyse which chemical elements make up comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko more

Comet probe reveals dust cloud

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

The double asteroid

An object with the name 288P is the only known active asteroid comprising two components more

Variable sunshine

Max Planck researchers explain why our Sun's brightness fluctuates more

Full braking at Alpha Centauri

Space travel visionaries solve the problem of interstellar slowdown at our stellar neighbour more

Ceres: Water ice in eternal polar night

The cameras of the Dawn space probe discover water ice in Ceres’ polar region. It can survive for aeons in the extreme cold traps, even though there is no atmosphere. more

A well-rounded star

Scientists measure the shape of Kepler 11145123 with unprecedented precision 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.Reinhard Genzel receives the Nobel Prize for Physics 2020
Digital Story: Reinhard Genzel more

Stormy sun

Stormy sun

Video February 15, 2013

Solar flares don’t just create beautiful polar lights, but can also damage satellites and disrupt power grids. Astrophysicist Sami Solanki attached a telescope to a giant helium balloon to research into the activity of the Sun. more

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