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.

Science Year 2023 – Our Universe

In the course of the Science Year 2023, the AIP will actively participate in various events and formats.

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Virtual Talk: Babelsberg Starry Night at 16 March

The next lecture of the virtual Babelsberg Starry Nights of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) on the topic "Robotic telescopes at AIP" will be broadcasted starting on Thursday, 16 March 2023 on the YouTube channel "Urknall, Weltall und das Leben". Please note that the lecture will be given in German.

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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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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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Eyeglass prescription for Christiaan Huygens after 330 years

Huygens built excellent lenses in the 17th century, but his telescopes lacked sharpness in comparison with what was possible at that time. In a recent study, Dr Alex Pietrow, researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), investigated Huygens’ calculations and has concluded that the Dutch astronomer and mathematician was probably near-sighted and would have needed eyeglasses to improve his telescopes.

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Latest News

Galaxies put on the scales at IAU Symposium in Potsdam

March 16, 2023

From 20 to 24 March, 150 participants from 25 countries worldwide meet in Potsdam for the IAU Symposium 379 “Dynamical Masses of Local Group Galaxies”. The focus of the conference is on determining the mass of galaxies in our cosmic neighbourhood.

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Eyeglass prescription for Christiaan Huygens after 330 years

March 2, 2023

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To new worlds with quantitative spectroscopy

Feb. 28, 2023

Astronomers from the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) and the Vatican Observatory (VO) teamed up to spectroscopically survey more than 1000 bright stars that potentially host exoplanets.

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Latest Publications

The need for obscured supermassive black hole growth to explain quasar proximity zones in the epoch of reionization

Satyavolu, S., Kulkarni, G., Keating, L. C., Haehnelt, M. G.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 521, 2, 3108 – Published May 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad729, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Cosmology and High-Energy Astrophysics

Examining the decline in the C IV content of the Universe over 4.3 ≲ z ≲ 6.3 using the E-XQR-30 sample

Davies, R. L., ... Keating, L. C., ...

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 521, 1, 314 – Published May 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad294, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Cosmology and High-Energy Astrophysics

Possible evidence for a large-scale enhancement in the Lyman-α forest power spectrum at redshift z ≥ 4

Molaro, M., ... Puchwein, E., ...

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 521, 1, 1489 – Published May 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad598, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Cosmology and High-Energy Astrophysics

Cosmic-ray-driven galactic winds: transport modes of cosmic rays and Alfvén-wave dark regions

Thomas, T., Pfrommer, C., Pakmor, R.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 521, 2, 3023 – Published May 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad472, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Cosmology and High-Energy Astrophysics

MusE GAs FLOw and Wind (MEGAFLOW) IX. The impact of gas flows on the relations between the mass, star formation rate, and metallicity of galaxies

Langan, I., ... Wendt, M., ...

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 521, 1, 546 – Published May 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad357, NASA ADS

Multi-point study of the energy release and impulsive CME dynamics in an eruptive C7 flare

Saqri, J., ... Warmuth, A., ...

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 672, A23 – Published April 2023

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202245079, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Solar Physics

The PEPSI Exoplanet Transit Survey (PETS). II. A Deep Search for Thermal Inversion Agents in KELT-20 b/MASCARA-2 b with Emission and Transmission Spectroscopy

Johnson, M. C., ... Ilyin, I., Keles, E., ... Mallonn, M., ... Poppenhaeger, K., ... Strassmeier, K. G., ...

The Astronomical Journal, 165, 4, 157 – Published April 2023

doi:10.3847/1538-3881/acb7e2, NASA ADS

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

Pulsar scintillation studies with LOFAR: II. Dual-frequency scattering study of PSR J0826+2637 with LOFAR and NenuFAR

Wu, Z., ... Vocks, C., ...

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 520, 4, 5536 – Published April 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad429, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Solar Physics

Cepheid metallicity in the Leavitt law (C-MetaLL) survey - III. Simultaneous derivation of the Gaia parallax offset and period-luminosity-metallicity coefficients

Molinaro, R., ... Storm, J., Trentin, E.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 520, 3, 4154 – Published April 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad440, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Dwarf Galaxies and the Galactic Halo

Measuring the variability of directly imaged exoplanets using vector Apodizing Phase Plates combined with ground-based differential spectrophotometry

Sutlieff, B. J., ... Strassmeier, K. G., ...

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 520, 3, 4235 – Published April 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad249, NASA ADS

eRASSt J074426.3 + 291606: prompt accretion disc formation in a 'faint and slow' tidal disruption event

Malyali, A., ... Homan, D., Krumpe, M.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 520, 3, 4209 – Published April 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad046, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: X-ray Astronomy

The rebrightening of a ROSAT-selected tidal disruption event: repeated weak partial disruption flares from a quiescent galaxy?

Malyali, A., ... Homan, D., Krumpe, M.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 520, 3, 3549 – Published April 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad022, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: X-ray Astronomy

How cosmic rays mediate the evolution of the interstellar medium

Simpson, C. M., Pakmor, R., Pfrommer, C., Glover, S. C. O., Smith, R.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 520, 3, 4621 – Published April 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stac3601, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Cosmology and High-Energy Astrophysics

The LMC impact on the kinematics of the Milky Way satellites: clues from the running solar apex

Makarov, D., Khoperskov, S., ... Libeskind, N., Salomon, J.-B.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society – Published March 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad757, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Milky Way and the Local Volume, Cosmography and Large-Scale Structure

The wide-field, multiplexed, spectroscopic facility WEAVE: Survey design, overview, and simulated implementation

Jin, S., ... Casamiquela, L., ... Soubiran, C., ...

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society – Published March 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad557, NASA ADS

New dwarf galaxy candidates in the sphere of influence of the Local Volume spiral galaxy NGC2683

Crosby, E., ... Pawlowski, M., ...

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society – Published March 2023

doi:10.1093/mnras/stad645, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Dwarf Galaxies and the Galactic Halo

Three Eruptions Observed by Remote Sensing Instruments Onboard Solar Orbiter

Mierla, M., ... Podladchikova, O., ...

Solar Physics, 298, 3, 42 – Published March 2023

doi:10.1007/s11207-023-02137-2, NASA ADS

Center-to-limb variation of spectral lines and continua observed with SST/CRISP and SST/CHROMIS

Pietrow, A. G. M. et al.

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 671, A130 – Published March 2023

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202244811, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Solar Physics

MUSE crowded field 3D spectroscopy in NGC 300. IV. Planetary nebula luminosity function

Soemitro, A. A., Roth, M. M., Weilbacher, P. M., ... Castro, N., Micheva, G.

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 671, A142 – Published March 2023

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202244597, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Astrophotonics, innoFSPEC, Galaxies and Quasars, 3D and Multi Object Spectroscopy, Milky Way and the Local Volume, Project Management

Hidden depths in the local Universe: The Stellar Stream Legacy Survey

Martínez-Delgado, D., ... Libeskind, N. I., ...

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 671, A141 – Published March 2023

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202245011, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Cosmography and Large-Scale Structure

Kinematic differences between multiple populations in Galactic globular clusters

Martens, S., ... Krajnović, D., ... Weilbacher, P. M.

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 671, A106 – Published March 2023

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202244787, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Galaxies and Quasars, 3D and Multi Object Spectroscopy

ISM metallicity variations across spiral arms in disk galaxies. The impact of local enrichment and gas migration in the presence of a radial metallicity gradient

Khoperskov, S., ... Minchev, I., Walcher, C. J.

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 671, A56 – Published March 2023

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202142581, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Milky Way and the Local Volume

Stellar metallicity gradients of Local Group dwarf galaxies (Corrigendum)

Taibi, S. et al.

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 671, C2 – Published March 2023

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202243508e, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Dwarf Galaxies and the Galactic Halo

The Gaia-ESO Survey: Preparing the ground for 4MOST and WEAVE galactic surveys. Chemical evolution of lithium with machine learning

Nepal, S., Guiglion, G., de Jong, R. S., Valentini, M., Chiappini, C., Steinmetz, M., ...

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 671, A61 – Published March 2023

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202244765, NASA ADS

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

Red horizontal branch stars: An asteroseismic perspective

Matteuzzi, M., ... Valentini, M.

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 671, A53 – Published March 2023

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202245746, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Dwarf Galaxies and the Galactic Halo

Chrono-chemodynamical analysis of the globular cluster NGC 6355: Looking for the fundamental bricks of the Bulge

Souza, S. O., ... Valentini, M., ... Chiappini, C., ... Queiroz, A. B. A., ...

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 671, A45 – Published March 2023

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202245286, NASA ADS

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

HARPS-N high spectral resolution observations of Cepheids. II. The impact of the surface-brightness color relation on the Baade-Wesselink projection factor of η Aql

Nardetto, N., ... Storm, J., ...

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 671, A14 – Published March 2023

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202245298, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Dwarf Galaxies and the Galactic Halo

Numerical Studies of Magnetic Reconnection and Heating Mechanisms for the Ellerman Bomb

Liu, M., Ni, L., Cheng, G.-C., Ziegler, U., Lin, J.

Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 23, 3, 035006 – Published March 2023

doi:10.1088/1674-4527/acafc3, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Magnetohydrodynamics and Turbulence

VPNEP: Detailed characterization of TESS targets around the Northern Ecliptic Pole. I. Survey design, pilot analysis, and initial data release

Strassmeier, K. G., Weber, M., Gruner, D., Ilyin, I., Steffen, M., Baratella, M., Järvinen, S., Granzer, T., Barnes, S. A., Carroll, T. A., Mallonn, M., Sablowski, D., ...

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 671, A7 – Published March 2023

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202245255, NASA ADS

AIP sections/groups: Cosmology and High-Energy Astrophysics, Stellar Activity, High-resolution Spectroscopy and Polarimetry, Stellar Physics and Exoplanets, Telescope Control and Robotics, Optics