A high-ranking delegation led by Dorothee Bär, Federal Minister of Research, Technology and Space in Gerrmany visited the Paranal Observatory of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile on 4 and 5 February 2026. The Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) was represented by Prof. Dr. Matthias Steinmetz, Scientific Director of the AIP and member of the ESO Council.

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On January 30th, 2026, the ESO signed an agreement with a large international consortium for the design and construction of BlueMUSE, a blue-optimised panoramic integral field spectrograph being developed for ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT). With its large field of view, high spectral resolution, and exceptional efficiency in the blue wavelength range, BlueMUSE will enable unique observations.

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On Wednesday, 11 February 2026, the AIP will award the Johann Wempe Prize to Dr Sebastian Kamann from Liverpool John Moores University for his outstanding research on the formation and evolution of massive globular clusters.

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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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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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