Sharper infrared eyes for the VLT: ERIS sees first light
The Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph (ERIS), a science instrument which was built by a consortium under the leadership of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, has successfully completed its first test observations. One of them exposed the heart of the galaxy NGC 1097 in mesmerising detail.
Explosion observed on a White Dwarf
When stars like our Sun use up all their fuel, they shrink to form white dwarfs. Sometimes such dead stars flare back to life in a super-hot explosion and produce a fireball of X-ray radiation. Using the eROSITA telescope on the SRG space observatory, a research team led by Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) has now been able to observe such an explosion of X-ray light for the very first time.
Asteroid treasure in the Hubble archive
With a sophisticated combination of human and artificial intelligence, astronomers uncovered 1701 new asteroid trails in archival data of the Hubble Space Telescope spanning the past 20 years. While about one third could be identified and attributed to known objects, more than 1000 trails probably correspond to previously unknown asteroids.
Molecules are stored in ice just before star and planet formation
MPE-Astronomers have found evidence that just before star formation, in the central region of a pre-stellar cloud, practically all heavy molecules freeze out on top of dust grains. The ALMA observations of the L1544 cloud in the constellation Taurus revealed that molecules containing nitrogen as well those containing carbon, oxygen and all elements heavier than helium, are stored in thick icy mantles around dust grains.
The Milky Way’s inner ring
Using a combination of observed stars and a realistic model of the Milky Way, scientists at the MPE have found a new structure in our home galaxy. Just outside the Galactic bar, they found an inner ring of metal rich stars, which are younger than the stars in the bar.
The Galactic Center under the magnifying glass
GRAVITY zooms in on stars around the supermassive black hole at the heart of our Milky Way
A scientific success story
The International Max Planck Research School on Astrophysics is celebrating its 20th birthday these days
An appetizer to the all-sky banquet
First eROSITA X-ray data release to the public
Reinhard Genzel receives the Nobel Prize for Physics 2020
The Max Planck Director is honored for his observations of the black hole in the Galactic Center
