Results from the first X-ray sky survey resolve the previous inconsistency between competing measurements of the structure of the Universe
First eROSITA sky-survey data release makes public the largest ever catalogue of high-energy cosmic sources
With the upgraded GRAVITY-instrument at the ESO VLTI, a team of astronomers led by the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics has determined the mass of a Black Hole in a galaxy only 2 billion years after the Big Bang. With 300 million solar masses, the black hole is actually under-massive compared to the mass of its host galaxy, indicating that at least for some systems there might be a delay between the growth of the galaxy and its central black hole.
In a groundbreaking study, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observed the early stages of the growth of dust grains in the dense Chamaeleon I cloud. These cold dust grains have accumulated molecular solids on their surface early in the process leading to star formation, challenging previous assumptions on where and when grain growth occurs.
The X-ray satellite “Einstein Probe” of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) was launched successfully from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China on a Long March-2C rocket on January 9th, 2024. Equipped with cutting-edge X-ray mirrors and detectors, with major contributions from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE), the spacecraft will start a new era in high-energy time-domain astrophysics.
February 14, 2024
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