As the days grow shorter and the nights longer, the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) is once again inviting the public to the Babelsberg Star Nights. The first public lecture by Prof. Dr. Matthias Steinmetz on the construction of the ELT will take place on 15th October 2026, 7:15 pm, at AIP in Babelsberg.

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An international team of astrophysicists and plasma physicists has provided the first experimental evidence that strong magnetic fields surrounding active stars can completely suppress coronal mass ejections. This gives clues to understanding why massive stellar eruptions are rarely observed on stars other than the Sun.

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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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Using a state-of-the-art galaxy simulation, a team led by scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) gained new insights into the processes shaping galactic centres across the Universe and the formation history of the Milky Way, bridging theory and observations.

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