For the first time, a team at Leiden University led by Ewine van Dishoek, an external scientific member of MPE, has robustly detected semi-heavy water ice around a young, sun-like star. These results support the theory that some of the water in our solar system originated before the Sun and its planets formed. The researchers used the James Webb Space Telescope to make their discovery, which they have published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. more

Astronomical images not only look beautiful, they also provide a wealth of information. What's behind it and what distinguishes four prominent telescopes? An overview. more

The first images from the observatory will be published on 23 June 2025 at 17:00 CEST. Researchers from the Max Planck Society report on their planned research more

Comprehensive scientific dataset sets standards and provides insights into the depths of the universe – thanks in part to strong German participation more

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, accompanied by Reinhard Genzel, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE), visited the ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile. The planned construction of an industrial plant in the immediate vicinity of the observatory poses an existential threat to the site as one of the world's leading astronomical facilities. more

A team of scientists has found the largest superstructure ever reliably characterised in the universe. The discovery was made while mapping the nearby universe using galaxy clusters detected by the ROSAT X-ray satellite's survey of the sky. With a length of about 1.4 billion lightyears, the new structure, which consists mainly of dark matter, is the largest known structure to date. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) and the Max Planck Institute for Physics (MPP) led the study in collaboration with colleagues in Spain and South Africa.
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Researchers have finished equipping the Subaru Telescope with a new special “compound eye” culminating several years of effort. This new instrument features approximately 2,400 fibers scattered across the extremely wide field of view available at the Subaru Telescope’s primary focus, allowing for simultaneous spectroscopic observation of thousands of celestial objects. This unrivaled capability will help researchers precisely understand the formation and evolution of galaxies and the Universe once it begins scientific operations in February 2025.
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