An international research team led by the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) has developed a new method of imaging the universe and created a fascinating map of the cosmos based on analysing the motions of 56,000 galaxies. The work shows impressive cosmic structures and maps the large-scale interconnectedness of galaxy superclusters in our universe.

Speed dating with science. Appointments can be booked now.

The next talk of the Virtual Babelsberg Starry Nights of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) will be broadcast on the YouTube channel “videowissen” from Thursday, 19th September 2024.

To mark the Day of Open Monuments, the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) invited visitors to the Telegrafenberg on September 8, 2024. The focus was on the Einstein Tower, which celebrated its 100th anniversary this year.

With the help of machine learning, a team at the AIP has made a surprising discovery. Based on data from the Gaia mission, a large number of ancient stars with similar orbits to our sun have been discovered.

The next talk of the Virtual Babelsberg Starry Nights of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) on the topic “News from the solar neighbourhood" (German) by Dr. Ralf-Dieter Scholz will be broadcast on the YouTube channel “Urknall, Weltall und das Leben” (Big Bang, Universe and Life) from Thursday, 18. July 2024.

Newly identified, extremely fast-moving stars in the star cluster Omega Centauri provide solid evidence for a black hole in its centre. With at least 8200 solar masses this is the first intermediate-mass black hole reliably observed to date. The study was published in the journal Nature.

The joint project PICS4^SENS by the Leibniz Institutes AIP and IHP in cooperation with the innoFSPEC transfer laboratory at the University of Potsdam will be funded over a period of four years with a total of 3,4 million euros, 2.2 million euros of which will go to the AIP.

Yesterday, the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) had the honor of welcoming Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand and her delegation to the Babelsberg campus. The aim of the visit was to discuss possible collaboration areas between the AIP and the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT) and to promote possible joint research projects.

On June 16, 2024, the President of Nepal, Ram Chandra Paudel, visited the research institutes on the Telegrafenberg in Potsdam.

On 21 January 2024, an asteroid struck Ribbeck near Nauen in Brandenburg. Dr Jürgen Rendtel from the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) was one of the meteorite searchers and found some fragments himself. In his lecture, which will be broadcast from Thursday, 20 June 2024 on the YouTube channel “Urknall, Weltall und das Leben” (Big Bang, Universe and Life), he reports on the discovery, the search for the fragments and the peculiarities of the meteorite (in German).

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has signed an agreement for the design and construction of ANDES, the ArmazoNes high Dispersion Echelle Spectrograph. The ANDES instrument will be installed on ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT).

Detection of magnetic massive stars outside our galaxy. The publication by Dr Swetlana Hubrig reports on the first discovery of magnetic fields in three massive, hot stars in the neighbouring galaxies Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.

As a part of the Leibniz Kolleg event on Thursday, May 16, the prestigious Publication Prize 2024 will be awarded to Dr. Ekaterina Ilin from the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) for her doctoral thesis in the Audimax of the University of Potsdam.

The next talk of the Virtual Babelsberg Starry Nights of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) will be broadcast on the YouTube channel “videowissen” from Thursday, 16th May 2024.

The Science Park "Albert Einstein" opens its doors on 4 May from 1 pm to 7 pm for the 11th Potsdam Science Day. The AIP is one of the hosts and offers a varied programme.

The next talk of the Virtual Babelsberg Starry Nights of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) presents the first data publication of the X-ray telescope "eROSITA" and will be broadcasted on the YouTube channel “Urknall, Weltall und das Leben” (Big Bang, Universe and Life) from Thursday, 18th April 2024.

While validating the data from ESA's Gaia mission, scientists uncovered a ‘sleeping’ giant. A large black hole, with a mass of nearly 33 times the mass of the Sun, was hiding in the constellation Aquila, less than 2000 light-years from Earth. This is the first time a black hole of stellar origin this big has been spotted so close to home.

The next talk of the Virtual Babelsberg Starry Nights of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) on the topic "Binary stars in exchange" (German) by Daniel Pauli from the University of Potsdam will be broadcast on the YouTube channel “Urknall, Weltall und das Leben” (Big Bang, Universe and Life) from Thursday, 21 March 2024.

A recent study of Prof Dr Martin M. Roth (AIP) looks at the scientific impact of novel instruments, focusing on the MUSE field spectrograph.