In the background, a star-forming region can be seen, featuring luminous gas clouds in shades of orange and red, as well as numerous stars in pink and white. A white frame highlights a section showing molecular models of methanol: spheres in red, white and grey connected by rods, symbolising atoms and chemical bonds.

First detection of heavy methanol in space

The discovery of fully deuterated methanol around a young star provides new insights into the formation of organic molecules in interstellar space.
A spiral-shaped cloud formation with a bright, orange center against a dark background.

Black holes outgrow their galaxies

eROSITA identifies active black holes with unusually high mass fractions
Simulation showing complex elliptical orbits of stars influenced by the gravitational pull of a central black hole.

A star with an Extreme Orbit

S301 feels the rotation of the Milky Way’s central black hole
An illustration of three black holes in a spiral galaxy surrounded by luminous stars and interstellar gas.

Cosmic Trio

Three Black Holes Discovered in a Young Galaxy for the first time
Circular astronomical image showing a dense distribution of stars across the field with a distinct bright yellow cluster near the middle, highlighting stellar concentration.

eROSITA delivers the most comprehensive census of the high-energy Universe to date 

Second data release nearly doubles the previously known eROSITA X-ray sources to two million
Visualization of a spiral galaxy with superimposed curved blue lines and clusters of green and orange dots connected by arrows, possibly representing magnetic fields or particle trajectories.

First observational signature of ambipolar diffusion in prestellar core L1544

Observation of the first signature of ambipolar diffusion in a prestellar core. The measurements reveal a subtle drift between ionized and neutral gas, offering new insight into the role of magnetic fields in star formation.
Telescope and spectra

HETDEX Opens Massive Cosmic Dataset to Scientists, Novices, and AI

Today, the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) - which recently completed the largest survey ever taken of the early universe – has released all of its immense, information-rich database to the public. 
Image of a cosmic area with a prominent bright halo, surrounded by diffuse gas clouds and scattered star formations, labeled "r200m".

Baryons at the Edge: SRG/eROSITA Survey Detects “Missing” Cosmic Gas at the Outskirts of Galaxy Clusters

Missing baryons found in galaxy cluster outskirts.
Research uncovers 90% of missing baryonic matter in galaxy cluster outskirts, enhancing cosmic structure understanding.
A scientific collage of 112 square individual images from the Euclid space telescope, arranged in a six-by-six grid on a black background. Each square shows a different strong gravitational lens in the distant universe. At the center of nearly every image is a bright, mostly yellowish-white foreground galaxy. Surrounding these central galaxies, the effects of spacetime curvature are clearly visible: the light from even more distant background galaxies appears as blue arcs of light, circularly curved arcs, filamentary structures, or nearly closed rings—so-called Einstein rings. Some images also show point-like multiple images of the same background galaxy, arranged symmetrically around the center. The details are very sharp, and in the background of each square, additional tiny, distant galaxies and stars are visible as points of light.

10,000 Euclid lenses wanted: MPE call for Space Warps

Help Classify Euclid Data in Space Warps Project.
Contribute to groundbreaking astronomy by classifying Euclid telescope images in citizen science initiative.
In the background, a star-forming region can be seen, featuring luminous gas clouds in shades of orange and red, as well as numerous stars in pink and white. A white frame highlights a section showing molecular models of methanol: spheres in red, white and grey connected by rods, symbolising atoms and chemical bonds.

First detection of heavy methanol in space

The discovery of fully deuterated methanol around a young star provides new insights into the formation of organic molecules in interstellar space.

People and Project News

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"Why Binary Stars and Cluster Assembly May Solve All Our Multiple Population Problems in Globular Clusters"

Oct 14, 2026 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM (Local Time Germany)
ESO Garching, Room: Library

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Oct 14, 2026 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
University Observatory Munich (USM), Scheinerstrasse 1, Munich, Room: Hörsaal der Universitäts-Sternwarte

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Oct 14, 2026 02:00 PM - 02:30 PM (Local Time Germany)
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“When Worlds Collide: Inauguration of the Munich Center for Geoastronomy”

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“When Worlds Collide: Inauguration of the Munich Center for Geoastronomy”

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"A Toast to Dying Stars" & "How Jupiter Ran Away and Saturn Brought Him Back"

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"Lessons From Simulations of the Early Evolution of Star Clusters"

Oct 7, 2026 from 02:00 PM to 02:30 PM (Local Time Germany)

"OpenCode and Local LLMs"

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"Dark Energy in Grey Matter"

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"Tide-And-Seek: Revealing Anisotropic Scale-Dependent Bias Through Selection Effects"

Oct 13, 2026 from 11:30 AM to 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)

"Euclid Transforms the Field of Strong Gravitational Lensing"

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"Life in the Standard Model Desert: Dark Sectors and Cosmological Tensions"

Oct 13, 2026 from 03:00 PM to 05:00 PM (Local Time Germany)

"Shine Torches Through Protoplanetary Disks: A New Method to Probe Dust Properties"

Oct 14, 2026 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)

UNIVERSE+ Online Seminar (31/34)

Oct 14, 2026 from 04:00 PM to 05:00 PM (Local Time Germany)

"Gravitationswellen, Neutronenplaneten, und der Ursprung der Elemente"

Oct 14, 2026 from 07:00 PM to 09:00 PM (Local Time Germany)

"Globular Cluster Systems in Dwarf Galaxies: Linking Dark Matter and Star Formation"

Oct 15, 2026 from 10:00 AM to 10:30 AM (Local Time Germany)

"A Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background"

Oct 15, 2026 from 03:15 PM to 04:15 PM (Local Time Germany)

Application Deadline – MPCDF & NVIDIA Deep Learning Workshop on October 27, 2026

Oct 17, 2026 from 12:00 AM to 01:00 AM (Local Time Germany)

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"Fundamentals of Deep Learning"

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