OPTIMA Campaign 2012 at Skinakas, Crete (2012-07-18 to 2012-08-19)
Objects: Simultaneous optical/X-ray observations of Galactic X-ray binaries binaries. GRB follow-up observations. Long-term studies of Polars
Instrument: This campaign at the 1.3 m telescope applied the OPTIMA-Burst hardware version that is used since 2007. Also the 2011 developed state of the art data processing and data storage software which enables online data analysis during measurements was used. Observers: Gottfried Kanbach, Arne Rau, Fritz Schrey, Robert Salamon, Aga Slowikowska
Observed Objects: AE Aqr, BL Lac, DQ Her, EQ Peg, HU Aqr, NN Ser, OT Lyr, V404 Cyg, (Aql X-1), 1RXS J184542+483134, NSVS14256825, HS2231+2441, WASP-21b, CLR2688, Swift J1910.2-0546 (MAXI J1910-057), CSS120813:203938-042908, CSS120812:221823+344509, PSR 0531+21 (Crab Pulsar)
The Skinakas Observatory has been in existence for 25 years and this was celebrated end of May on top of the Ida mountains. Founded in 1986 by the University of Crete, the Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas FORTH and the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, it is used both for the training of students and basic astronomical research.
Gottfried Kanbach, Arne Rau, Fritz Schrey, Aga Slowikowska, ....
Objects:
High time resolution photometry and polarimetry of Gamma Ray Bursts immediately after detection with the satellite Swift. Burst alert via internet.
Other Objects: .......
Instrument:
This campaign will apply the OPTIMA-Burst hardware version that is used since 2007. New this time is the newly developed state of the art data processing and data storage software which enables for the first time online data analysis during measurements.
(June 20, 2011)
OPTIMA-burst Campaign 2010 at Skinakas (2010-05-09 to 2010-07-30)
Gottfried Kanbach, Fritz Schrey, Helmut Steinle, Ilham Nasiroglu, Aga Slowikowska, Andrzej Szary, Bartek Gauza, Dainis Dravins, Hannes Jensen, Natalia Lewandowski Remote support: Alexander Stefanescu
Objects:
High time resolution photometry and polarimetry of Gamma Ray Bursts immediately after detection with the satellite Swift. Burst alert via internet.
TrES 3, BD_64_pol, GC 319, Aql X-1, BD+38 4058, HU Aqr, GP Com, AM CVn, Her X-1, KL Dra, SDSS J1702+3229, VB9, VB10, EV Lac, PSR J1744-1134, Mkn 501, SAX 2103.5+4545, GRO J2058+42, ....
(June 24, 2009)
OPTIMA-burst Campaign 2008 at Skinakas (2008-09-01 to 2008-11-07)
Alexander Stefanescu, Gottfried Kanbach, Fritz Schrey, Helmut Steinle (all MPE) Aga Slowikowska, Natalia Primak (University of Crete) Adria Updike (Clemson University), Natalia Lewandowski (Hamburger Sternwarte)
Objects:
High time resolution photometry and polarimetry of Gamma Ray Bursts immediately after detection with the satellite Swift. Burst alert via internet.
Surprising Flashes from a possible Magnetar Observations of optical flares reveal limits of established theories on magnetars
By means of the high-speed photometer OPTIMA of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE), a team of MPE scientists might have detected an unexpected new sub-category of astronomical objects. It appears to be a magnetar with bursts in the visible part of the spectrum, in contrast to the X-ray and gamma flashes, which are considered to be characteristic for magnetars.
Launched from Baikonur on July 13th 2019 to the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point (L2), the Russian-German SRG mission has now started its main task. On December 8th, after an extensive program of commissioning, calibration and performance verification of its two X-ray telescopes (ART-XC and eROSITA), the satellite has begun observing the sky in continuous scanning mode. As SRG follows the revolution of Earth, and hence also of the L2 point, around the Sun, it will perform eight complete surveys of the whole sky, one every six months, for the next 4 years. Pre-launch predictions suggest that, over that time, the eROSITA instrument, conceived, designed and built at MPE, should discover approximately 100,000 clusters of galaxies, around 3 million accreting supermassive black holes and half a million active stars.
First Light images by the eROSITA X-ray telescope. You are free to use the images for your eROSITA reporting, please give the appropriate copyright with each image.
The scientific performance demonstrated in the first weeks of operations of the eROSITA X-ray telescope promises a breakthrough in our understanding of the energetic Universe.
The commissioning phase of the eROSITA X-ray telescope aboard the SRG spacecraft has just been completed. During this phase, all seven eROSITA cameras have been switched on individually, and demonstrated performance satisfying the mission requirements. As of Sunday 13 October 2019, all seven telescope modules are operating simultaneously, and eROSITA has entered full science operations, beginning with the calibration and performance verification (CalPV) phase. Early images and results from eROSITA will be presented at a “first light” symposium to be held at MPE in the afternoon of Tuesday October 22nd. Interested members of the media should contact Hannelore Hämmerle (see side column) for more details.
The SRG (Spektrum-Roentgen-Gamma) Orbital Observatory has recently started one of its many tests by looking at a small patch of the extragalactic sky with one of the seven eROSITA telescope modules. The results are consistent with preflight expectations. The work on commissioning other modules is still underway and will be completed in the coming weeks before starting a 4-year long all-sky survey later this year.
On 25 April 2019, the Spektr-RG Space Observatory was transported to the Baikonur Cosmodrome - the final stage in preparation for its launch on 21 June. Spektr-RG carries the X-ray telescope eROSITA, which was developed and built at MPE. Its aim is to perform a highly sensitive survey of the entire sky in X-ray light, once it arrives at its observation point L2.
Outflows of matter and energy from a galaxy’s centre are considered key players in the formation and evolution of galaxies and other structures in the Universe. Astronomers led by the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics have now created the most extensive X-ray map of the central degrees of the Milky Way, thereby discovering a channel of X-ray emitting gas connecting the Milky Way centre to structures much further out.
On June 11, NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope celebrates a decade of using gamma rays, the highest energy form of light in the universe, to study black holes, neutron stars, and other extreme cosmic objects and events. MPE scientists use data from both instruments on-board Fermi, one of which was built jointly by MPE and other institutes.
The next generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-V) will move forward with mapping the entire sky following a $16 million grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The grant will kickstart a ground-breaking all-sky spectroscopic survey for a next wave of discovery, anticipated to start in 2020, just after the start of the all-sky survey by the MPE’s eROSITA X-ray telescope.
Simultaneous detections of a short Gamma-Ray Burst by Fermi/GBM, INTEGRAL, and as gravitational wave by LIGO/Virgo, followed by MPG/GROND multi-wavelength observations heralds the start of a new era in astronomy
The National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina honors Joachim Trümper, Director Emeritus at the MPE, with the Cothenius Medal for his outstanding scientific lifetime achievement. The award will be presented to Joachim Trümper at the opening ceremony of the Annual General Meeting of the Leopoldina on Friday, 22 September 2017, in Halle (Saale).
On the 23rd of June, the amateur satellite "MaxValier Sat" was successfully launched into an Earth orbit on an Indian rocket. On board: the miniature X-ray telescope μROSI, which was built by the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching. Intensive work had been carried out in South Tyrol, Munich and Bremen to get all instruments ready. The MaxValier satellite is a unique cooperation between academic research, the aerospace industry and the commercial schools in Bolzano and Merano. The aim of the mission is to provide a complete survey of the sky in soft X-rays – with the data being broadcast to amateur astronomers - as well as observing the Earth’s upper atmosphere to discover an oxygen absorption line.
CNES President Jean-Yves Le Gall and Kirpal Nandra, Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE), have signed a memorandum of understanding on Germany’s contribution to the MXT and ECLAIRs instruments that CNES is developing for the French-Chinese SVOM astronomy mission.
In 1995, a paper was published about ROSAT observations of dust scattering halos, which has now reached more than 1000 citations. This makes it the top ranking paper under more than 9000 publications that mainly deal with the “hot” topics in astrophysics, such as supernovae, neutron stars, black holes, quasars or galaxy clusters. Why did a side issue such as interstellar dust receive so much attention?
