AIP

Welcome!

The Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) is dedicated to astrophysical questions ranging from the exploration of our Sun to the evolution of the cosmos. It focuses on the study of cosmic magnetic fields, extragalactic astrophysics and the development of research technologies in the fields of spectroscopy, robotic telescopes and E-science.

Dwarf_galaxies_around_the_Milky_Way_square

Carl Ramsauer Award for Maria Werhahn

Dr Maria Werhahn receives the Carl Ramsauer Award 2023 of the Physikalische Gesellschaft zu Berlin e.V. for her outstanding doctoral thesis at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) and the University of Potsdam.

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Observation evenings at the Great Refractor

After a long break, the Great Refractor will again open its dome for public observation evenings. In Case of clear skies, everyone interested has the chance to take a look through the fourth largest refracting telescope in the world and get to know the historic telescope.

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Research Area II: Extragalactic Astrophysics

Galaxies are fundamental cosmic building blocks. At the largest scales, they serve as markers to study the distribution of matter in the universe - active galaxies and quasars are particularly important because of their intrinsic brightness. Nearby objects can be spatially resolved and consist of populations with very different patterns of motion, star formation histories and chemical abundances.

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Research Area I: Cosmic Magnetic Fields

Cosmic events are determined by two natural forces: gravity and magnetic fields. The magnetic field research at the AIP is mainly focused on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations, the magnetically induced activities on the Sun and the stars, solar coronaphysics as well as space weather in our solar system and on planets around other stars.

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A radically new view on dwarf galaxies surrounding the Milky Way

Commonly thought to be long-lived satellites of our galaxy, a new study now finds indications that most dwarf galaxies might in fact be destroyed soon after their entry into the Galactic halo.

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Latest News

Carl Ramsauer Award for Maria Werhahn

Nov. 22, 2023

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A radically new view on dwarf galaxies surrounding the Milky Way

Nov. 21, 2023

Commonly thought to be long-lived satellites of our galaxy, a new study now finds indications that most dwarf galaxies might in fact be destroyed soon after their entry into the Galactic halo.

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550 Years of the Copernican Universe: our Place in the Cosmos

Nov. 7, 2023

In the spirit of Copernicus’s revolutionary idea and in honour of his 550th anniversary, a one-day Heraeus symposium will take place in Berlin on 10 November, focussing on our place in the universe, galaxy and solar system.

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Latest Publications

The spatially resolved star formation history of the dwarf spiral galaxy NGC 5474

Bortolini, G., ... Sacchi, E., ...

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 527, 3, 5339 – Published January 2024

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad3524, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Milky Way and the Local Volume

The accretion history of the Milky Way - II. Internal kinematics of globular clusters and of dwarf galaxies

Hammer, F., ... Pawlowski, M. S., ...

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 527, 2, 2718 – Published January 2024

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad2922, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Dwarf Galaxies and the Galactic Halo

Unveiling the white dwarf in J191213.72 - 441045.1 through ultraviolet observations

Pelisoli, I., ... Schwope, A., ...

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 527, 2, 3826 – Published January 2024

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad3442, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: X-ray Astronomy

The large-scale velocity field from the Cosmicflows-4 data

Hoffman, Y., Valade, A., Libeskind, N. I., Sorce, J. G., ... Pfeifer, S., Gottlöber, S., ...

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 527, 2, 3788 – Published January 2024

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad3433, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Cosmography and Large-Scale Structure, Cosmology and High-Energy Astrophysics

Stellar surface information from the Ca II H&K lines - I. Intensity profiles of the solar activity components

Cretignier, M., Pietrow, A. G. M., Aigrain, S.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 527, 2, 2940 – Published January 2024

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad3292, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Solar Physics

Impact of orbiting satellites on star formation rate evolution and metallicity variations in Milky Way-like discs

Annem, B., Khoperskov, S.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 527, 2, 2426 – Published January 2024

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad3244, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Milky Way and the Local Volume

Three young planets around the K-dwarf K2-198: high-energy environment, evaporation history, and expected future

Ketzer, L., Poppenhaeger, K., Baratella, M., Ilin, E.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 527, 1, 374 – Published January 2024

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad3197, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Stellar Physics and Exoplanets, High-resolution Spectroscopy and Polarimetry

The individual abundance distributions of disc stars across birth radii in GALAH

Wang, K., Carrillo, A., Ness, M. K., Buck, T.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 527, 1, 321 – Published January 2024

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad3182, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Cosmology and High-Energy Astrophysics

The Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area survey: extended and remastered data release

Sánchez, S. F., Galbany, L., Walcher, C. J., García-Benito, R., Barrera-Ballesteros, J. K.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 526, 4, 5555 – Published December 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad3119, NASA ADS

VLT-MUSE spectroscopy of AGNs misclassified by BPT diagnostic or with weak emission lines

Agostino, C. J., ... Salas, H., Couto, G. S.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 526, 3, 4455 – Published December 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad3027, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Galaxies and Quasars

Light elements Na and Al in 58 bulge spheroid stars from APOGEE

Barbuy, B., ... Chiappini, C., Queiroz, A. B. A., ... Valentini, M., ...

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 526, 2, 2365 – Published December 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad2888, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Milky Way and the Local Volume, Dwarf Galaxies and the Galactic Halo

Chemical abundances of the young inner-disc open cluster NGC 6705 observed by APOGEE: sodium-rich and not α-enhanced

Loaiza-Tacuri, V., ... Chiappini, C., ...

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 526, 2, 2378 – Published December 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad2896, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Milky Way and the Local Volume

Molecular and ionized gas in tidal dwarf galaxies: the spatially resolved star formation relation

Kovakkuni, N., ... Pawlowski, M. S., ... Weilbacher, P. M.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 526, 2, 1940 – Published December 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad2790, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Dwarf Galaxies and the Galactic Halo, Galaxies and Quasars, 3D and Multi Object Spectroscopy

The evolution of the Milky Way's thin disc radial metallicity gradient with K2 asteroseismic ages

Willett, E., ... Chiappini, C., ...

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 526, 2, 2141 – Published December 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad2374, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Milky Way and the Local Volume

Mapping the core of the Tarantula Nebula with VLT-MUSE. III. A template for metal-poor starburst regions in the visual and far-ultraviolet

Crowther, P. A., Castro, N.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society – Published November 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad3698, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Astrophotonics (innoFSPEC)

The Accretion History of the Milky Way: III. Hydrodynamical Simulations of Galactic Dwarf Galaxies at First Infall

Wang, J., ... Pawlowski, M. S., ...

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society – Published November 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad3651, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Dwarf Galaxies and the Galactic Halo

Spectrally resolved cosmic rays - III. Dynamical impact and properties of the circumgalactic medium

Girichidis, P., Werhahn, M., Pfrommer, C., Pakmor, R., Springel, V.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society – Published November 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad3628, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Cosmology and High-Energy Astrophysics

The magnetised and thermally unstable tails of jellyfish galaxies

Sparre, M., Pfrommer, C., Puchwein, E.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society – Published November 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad3607, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Cosmology and High-Energy Astrophysics

The PEPSI Exoplanet Transit Survey (PETS) IV: Assessing the atmospheric chemistry of KELT-20b

Petz, S., ... Keles, E., ... Poppenhaeger, K., ... Strassmeier, K. G., ...

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society – Published November 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad3481, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Stellar Physics and Exoplanets

A Hale-like Cycle in the Solar Twin 18 Scorpii

do Nascimento, J.-D., Barnes, S. A., ... Strassmeier, K. G., ...

The Astrophysical Journal, 958, 1, 57 – Published November 2023

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/acfc1a, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Stellar Activity

oMEGACat. I. MUSE Spectroscopy of 300,000 Stars within the Half-light Radius of ω Centauri

Nitschai, M. S., ... Kacharov, N., ...

The Astrophysical Journal, 958, 1, 8 – Published November 2023

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/acf5db, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Dwarf Galaxies and the Galactic Halo

Correction to: Bo\vsković's Method for Determining the Axis and Rate of Solar Rotation by Observing Sunspots in 1777

Husak, M., ... Krajnović, D., ...

Solar Physics, 298, 11, 131 – Published November 2023

doi:10.1007/s11207-023-02229-z, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Galaxies and Quasars

The existence of hot X-ray onsets in solar flares

Battaglia, A. F., ... Warmuth, A., ...

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 679, A139 – Published November 2023

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202347706, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Solar Physics

Role of initial density profiles in simulations of coronal wave-coronal hole interactions

Piantschitsch, I., ... Hofmeister, S. J., ...

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 679, A136 – Published November 2023

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202346871, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Solar Physics

TITANS metal-poor reference stars. II. Red giants and CEMP stars

Giribaldi, R. E., ... Valentini, M., Chiappini, C., ...

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 679, A110 – Published November 2023

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202347208, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Dwarf Galaxies and the Galactic Halo, Milky Way and the Local Volume

The short-term stability and tilting motion of a well-observed low-latitude solar coronal hole

Heinemann, S. G., Hofmeister, S. J., ...

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 679, A100 – Published November 2023

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202347180, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Solar Physics

Effects of magnetic fields on the center-to-limb variation in solar-type stars

Ludwig, H.-G., Steffen, M., Freytag, B.

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 679, A65 – Published November 2023

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202346783, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Stellar Physics and Exoplanets

A heliospheric density and magnetic field model

Mann, G., Warmuth, A., Vocks, C., Rouillard, A. P.

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 679, A64 – Published November 2023

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202245050, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Solar Physics

A Series of Advances in Analytic Interplanetary CME Modeling

Kay, C., Nieves‐Chinchilla, T., Hofmeister, S. J., Palmerio, E., Ledvina, V. E.

Space Weather, 21, 11, e2023SW003647 – Published November 2023

doi:10.1029/2023SW003647, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Solar Physics

Statistically bias-minimized peculiar velocity catalogs from Gibbs point processes and Bayesian inference

Sorce, J. G., Stoica, R. S., Tempel, E.

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 679, A1 – Published November 2023

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202346288, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Cosmology and High-Energy Astrophysics

[List of AIP publications] [AIP publications in ADS]

Events and dates at AIP

Colloquium: Filippo Fraternali (Groningen)

07.12.2023, 14:00 – 16:00

Scientific

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Extraordinary Colloquium: Joss Bland-Hawthorn (Director, Sydney Institute for Astronomy, U. of Sydney)

15.12.2023, 11:00 – 12:00

Scientific

Recent observations of high-redshift galaxies (z = 1 - 9) reveal many have gas-rich discs with well-ordered rotation and elevated levels of star formation and turbulence. Some discs (z = 1 - 5) show evidence of spiral arms, and either stellar or gaseous bars. These remarkable observations have motivated us to explore a new class of dynamically self-consistent models using our updated AGAMA/Ramses N-body codes to mimic a plausible progenitor of the Milky Way. We explore gas fractions from 0 to 100%, and track the creation of stars and metals. The high gas surface densities encourage vigorous star formation, which in turn couples with the gas to drive turbulent pressure support. We explore three distinct histories: (i) there is no ongoing accretion and the gas is used up by the star formation; (ii) the star-forming gas is replenished by cooling in the hot halo gas; (iii) we revisit these models in the presence of a strong perturbing force. The turbulent gas forms a strong radial shear flow that creates a co-existing stellar and gaseous bar within a few 100 Myr. Remarkably, a gas bar is formed even when there is no stellar disc (f_gas ~ 100%). For f_gas < 70%, all bars survive to the end of the simulation (2 Gyr) but, for higher gas fractions, the bars evolve into central bulges after 1 Gyr. The gas bars are reminiscent of recent discoveries from high-redshift ALMA observations of gaseous discs.

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