Dawn of a New Era of Interferometry with GRAVITY+

Last week, four lasers were fired into the sky above ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile, each creating an artificial star to help astronomers measure and correct atmospheric blur. This impressive launch, one from each 8-meter telescope, marks a key milestone of the GRAVITY+ project, led by MPE, significantly enhancing the VLTI’s ability to observe fainter objects and cover more of the southern sky.

Euclid Sheds Light on How Galaxies Form and Transform

ESA’s space telescope captures the astonishing diversity of galaxies – and MPE scientists trace how mergers shape their cores

4MOST Begins its Journey of Cosmic Discovery

First light marks the start of an ambitious mission to decode the physical and chemical fingerprints of thousands of celestial objects at once.

A look deep into the early universe: First infrared interferometry of a quasar at redshift 4

New GRAVITY+ and ERIS observations uncover surprising black hole properties and powerful gas outflows in the early cosmos.

Euclid opens a treasure trove of data: MPE plays a crucial role in exploring the dark universe

The first Euclid data published by ESA (Q1) provide impressive insights into the depths of the universe. They include high-resolution images of 26 million galaxies, reveal the finest structures and make it possible for the first time to precisely determine the shape and distance of more than 380,000 galaxies. This data is a milestone and yet only marks the beginning of research into dark matter and dark energy. And the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) plays a central role in all of this.

Asteroid Bennu Sample Reveals a Broth of Life’s Ingredients

Studies of rock and dust from asteroid Bennu delivered to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and analyzed by, among others, researchers from MPE’s Center of Astrochemistry (CAS), have revealed molecules that, on our planet, are key to life, as well as a history of saltwater that could have served as the “broth” for these compounds to interact and combine.