Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics

Large Binocular Telescope on Mount Graham in Arizona, USA © Credit: Dr. Christoph Saulder (MPE)

High-resolution image taken with the Large Binocular Telescope on Mount Graham in Arizona, USA, displaying the two lens galaxies in a warm tone, and the five lensed copies of SN Winny in blue. © Credit: SN Winny Research Group

SN Winny is the only known strongly lensed superluminous supernova – and MPE astronomers have captured all five of its images. 💫
This rare system opens a new, one-step route to measure the universe’s expansion rate and address the Hubble tension.

More: bit.ly/4tLRiHN

Zoom on the features of the XMM-Newton lightcurve of J2344: A crest of narrow flares can be distinctively observed over the broader modulations (the QPEs) 🌀 Supermassive black hole heartbeat with mini-flares! eRASSt J2344 shows quasi-periodic X-ray eruptions every 12 hours plus unprecedented short, hot mini-flares – challenging models near supermassive black holes. Thanks to Einstein Probe + XMM-Newton. Led by MPE/IMPRS PhD student @PietroBaldini. 👉 Full story + cosmic ECG: bit.ly/MPE-J2344-heartbeat #BlackHoles #EinsteinProbe #Astrophysics #MPE #IMPRS

🌀 Supermassive black hole heartbeat + mini-flares!
eRASSt J2344 shows QPEs every 12h + unprecedented short mini-flares – challenging black hole models. Thanks to Einstein Probe + XMM-Newton.
👉 Full story + cosmic ECG: bit.ly/MPE-J2344-heartbeat
#BlackHoles #EinsteinProbe #Astrophysics #MPE #IMPRS

International Day of Women and Girls in Science!
At @eso_supernova in Garching, "MPE’s Women in Astronomy" spotlighted Prof. Dr. Dominika Wylezalek (Heidelberg University & ARI) with her inspiring public talk “Black Holes and the Cosmic Web of Galaxies — A Journey Through Space and Time.” ✨

Paranal: Night Sky Secured – A Triumph for the Astronomers’ Protest The planned industrial facility near ESO Paranal has been halted, ensuring the protection of the unique night sky for astronomical research.

Astronomers win!🥳
Protest saves @eso.org #Paranal Observatory's dark skies from industrial project. #MPE director & #Nobel Laureate Reinhard Genzel leads successful fight to protect a unique site of world-class telescopes, including #VLT and the currently built #ELT.
➡️ www.mpe.mpg.de/8134359/news...

New insights into the origins of the chemistry of life Astrophysicists discover largest sulfur-containing molecular compound in space

Largest sulfur molecule ever detected in space may reveal clues to life’s origins. www.mpg.de/26040668/the... #astrophysics @mpe-garching.bsky.social

eROSITA Reveals Powerful Black Hole Winds Driving Unexpected X-ray Flickering in Quasars The eROSITA telescope unveils unexpected X-ray flickering in quasars, revealing powerful black hole winds influencing brightness variations.

A new study by #MPE researchers, using the #eROSITA telescope, shows the fastest-feeding #Quasars have the strongest X-ray flickering. The likely cause? Powerful winds blasting away from the #blackhole, acting like a 'cosmic curtain' that block our view.
➡️https://www.mpe.mpg.de/8130783/news20260121

👏Congratulations to Michaela Benthaus, who just became the first ever wheelchair user to travel to space!

Back in early 2023, Michaela did an internship at #MPE. And now to see her go to space make us incredibly proud.

Amazing achievement, Michi, and all the best for your future! Next stop Mars??😉

Unveiling interstellar secrets!
A science team including #MPE's Konrad Dennerl captured the first X-ray images of comet 3I/ATLAS using @esa.int #XMMNewton. This goes back to 1996 when the #ROSAT mission discovered that comets emit X-rays.
Image: ESA/XMM-Newton/C. Lisse, S. Cabot & the XMM ISO Team

Check out "The Year in Physics" 2025 by @quantamagazine.bsky.social, with #MPE scientist Hannah Übler, who received an #ERC Starting Grant in 2024.
Using the #JWST, they found a lonely black hole in the early universe with a mass of 50 million suns! 🤯
➡️ More: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPoQ...

👏Congratulations to #MPE-director Reinhard Genzel on receiving the Bavarian Constitutional Order! He received the award from Ilse Aigner in honor for his groundbreaking black hole research & dedication to science in Bavaria!
➡️ www.mpe.mpg.de/8116474/news...
Photos: Bayerischer Landtag/Matthias Balk

⚠️Skies at Risk! ⚠️
#NobelPrize Laureate and #MPE director Genzel, along with 29 astronomers, have written an open letter to the Chilean government, urging them to protect @eso.org #Paranal Observatory from light pollution & vibrations from the proposed INNA complex.
➡️ www.mpe.mpg.de/8115723/news...

Der klare Himmel über Paranal – die Grundlage für bahnbrechende Forschung mit Instrumenten wie GRAVITY+ – ist bedroht. - Copyright A. Berdeu / ESO

Nobelpreisträger Reinhard Genzel führt dringenden Appell internationaler Astronomen zum Schutz der Paranal-Himmel an
Nobelpreisträger Reinhard Genzel und fast 30 Spitzenastronomen fordern die chilenische Regierung auf, den INNA-Industriekompl...
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📣 Job Opportunity 📣
Project Scientist | Wide Field Imager Instrument for NewAthena X-ray Observatory.

The @mpe-garching.bsky.social (MPE) is looking for a Project Scientist for Wide Field Imager Instrument for NewAthena X-ray Observatory .

More info 👇:

www.mpe.mpg.de/8103082/job_...

YouTube video by 4-meter Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope First Light for 4MOST!

First Light for 4MOST!

The 4-metre Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope (4MOST) has captured its very first spectra!

Video Credit: AIP/R. de Jong, AIP/K. Riebe, AIP/A. Saviauk, CRAL/J.-K. Krogager

4MOST Begins its Journey of Cosmic Discovery 4MOST embarks on a cosmic journey, capturing spectra of thousands of celestial objects simultaneously, unlocking secrets of the universe.

🤩The @4most-eu.bsky.social (#4MOST) facility on @eso.org VISTA telescope in Chile achieved first light.
#MPE scientists played a leading role in developing the Operations System, enabling to link #eROSITA’s X-ray universe with large-scale structure of galaxies.
➡️ More: www.mpe.mpg.de/8102833/news...

🏃🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️Fast, faster, #MPE! With two teams, a group of MPE scientists participated in the #MunichMarathon 2025. On the left team "eRunita" - a neologism of "run" and #eROSITA -, and on the right the "WFI DEPFET Fliers", named after the #NewAthena #WFI.
Great Performance, guys! 👏🥇

“I’m proud of my team – our work is read all around the world.”
Huge congratulations to Ewine van Dishoeck! Named Citation Laureate 2025 by Clarivate for groundbreaking astrochemistry research. Her discoveries reshape how we understand the birth of stars & planets.

Ein fertiger Informationsstand zum Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) im Eingangsbereich des Bundesministeriums für Bildung und Forschung. Der Stand präsentiert sich mit mehreren Elementen: Im Vordergrund ein Tisch mit ausliegenden Informationsmaterialien, darunter Flyer und Bildkarten astronomischer Motive. Auf dem Tisch steht eine große durchsichtige Vitrine mit einem maßstabsgetreuen Modell des ELT. Dahinter hängen Stellwände mit einem nächtlichen Bild des Teleskops und leuchtenden Laserstrahlen. Zwei große Bildschirme links und rechts des Modells zeigen Animationen und Fotos des ELT. Auf der rechten Seite des Stands steht ein Glücksrad mit einem astronomischen Design, daneben ein Barhocker sowie eine VR-Brille, die Besucherinnen und Besucher ausprobieren können. Links steht eine Infotafel mit der Überschrift „Raumfahrt“ und dem Hinweis „Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) – das weltweit größte Auge im Himmel“. Das Logo der ESO ist ebenfalls sichtbar. Der Stand wird von Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeitern des Max-Planck-Instituts für Astronomie (MPIA) und des Max-Planck-Instituts für extraterrestrische Physik (MPE) betreut. Er ist Teil des Programms zum Tag der offenen Tür der Bundesregierung, bei dem Forschungseinrichtungen ihre Projekte vorstellen.

1/ Alles bereit für den Tag der offenen Tür 🚪 #TdoT25 der #Bundesregierung im #BMFTR am 23. und 24. August. Im Auftrag der @eso.org präsentieren #MPIA und @mpe-garching.bsky.social der @maxplanck.de das Extremely Large Telescope #ELT 🔭. #Astronomie #Weltraum #ESO 🌌

We're excited to welcome you soon at #MPE, @suchitra.bsky.social! 🤗

Frank Grupp, researcher at #MPE and @lmumuenchen.bsky.social, receives the Instrument Development Award for leading the development of the NISP optics on ESA’s #Euclid space telescope. With the largest lens system ever used in space, his work sets new standards in resolution and precision. (3/3)

Paola Caselli, director of the Center for Astrochemical Studies at MPE, receives the #KarlSchwarzschildMedal for her pioneering research on the earliest phases of planet & star formation.
She combines cutting-edge observations, theory & lab work to reveal the hidden chemistry of the universe. (2/3)

Double Congratulations for @mpe-garching.bsky.social #MPE! The German Astronomical Society (AG) honors two of our researchers with prestigious awards:

Prof. Dr. Paola Caselli receives the Karl Schwarzschild Medal and Dr. Frank Grupp is honored with the Instrument Development Award. (1/3)

🤯Major milestone for #MICADO!
The 5-ton cryostat - core of the 6m camera - arrived at #MPE. It keeps optics & detectors at ~82 K 🥶 to enable precise infrared observations for @eso.org Extremely Large Telescope #ELT.

More about MICADO: lnkd.in/e5qVq6tY
Video: Federico Biondi/MPE.

Impressions from the #b2run 2025. A total of ~ 300 runners from all Munich #MaxPlanck Institutes and
@maxplanck.de
participated, 40 of them from #MPE alone! 💪
One "Extraterrestrial"👽finished in 35th place - out of 30.000 runners!

#b2runmünchen #gemeinsamfit

Photos: Felix Dickfeld/MPE; Jan Greune

Honoured twice Teresa Valdivia-Mena receives the Otto Hahn Medal and Otto Hahn Award for her dissertation on streamers in protoplanetary disks.

🥳 Congratulations to @terevaldivia.bsky.social, who has been awarded both the prestigious #OttoHahnMedal and the #OttoHahnAward by @maxplanck.de for her outstanding dissertation!

In this Interview she talks about her research, the award ceremony and her future work:
www.mpe.mpg.de/8076532/news...

This image of the Trifid Nebula (small gas nebula at top right) and the Lagoon Nebula (dominant) fits roughly into the field of view of the large 3.200 Megapixel camera at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. The image is a composite of 678 individual images, revealing even faint details.

“The Vera Rubin Telescope will be transformational for my research in #cosmology," says Esra Bulbul, astronomer
@mpe-garching.bsky.social. "With its wide field of view and depth, it will observe billions of #galaxies across vast distances.” www.mpg.de/24900555/ver... @vrubinobs.bsky.social

Germany’s new Federal Minister for Research, Technology, and Space, @dorobaer.bsky.social visited #MPE. She talked to MPE directors Reinhard Genzel, Kirpal Nandra and Frank Eisenhauer and visited #MICADO, a pioneering instrument for the upcoming #ELT being currently built in Chile by @eso.org.

#MPE & Kavli Institute for #Astronomy & #Astrophysics (KIAA) at Beijing University are happy to announce the launch of a new @maxplanck.de Max Planck partner group. The collaboration will be led by Dr. Jinyi Shangguan, researcher at KIAA and former postdoc at MPE.

➡️ www.mpe.mpg.de/8059933/news...

The image shows a grid of spiral galaxies, which appear in different sizes and shapes. Each galaxy is surrounded by a dark background and contains various spiral patterns. Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by M. Walmsley, M. Huertas-Company, J.-C. Cuillandre

A catalogue of more than 380,000 #galaxies: the first comprehensive data release of the #Euclid space telescope provides insights into the depths of the #universe - thanks in part to strong German participation! www.mpg.de/24349746/euc... @mpi-astro.bsky.social @mpe-garching.bsky.social @esa.int

Euclid Q1 data release fields

It's #Euclid data release day!

@esa.int and the Euclid Consortium are making 63 deg² of Wide Survey data available to the world. Imaging and spectroscopy data, catalogues and masks for 20+ million galaxies, quasars, stars and substellar objects.

#astronomy #science #space

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