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The image shows the large white dish of the 100-meter Effelsberg radio telescope, which is clearly visible in the foreground.
The Effelsberg Radio Observatory is located in a valley with wooded slopes in the Eifel region. The telescope and a number of observatory buildings are also visible in the image. An almost cloudless blue sky stretches across the landscape.
The photo was taken in summer by Norbert Tacken, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy.

Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy

Auf dem Hügel 69
D-53121 Bonn - Endenich

Research Departments

Fundamental Physics in Radio Astronomy
(Michael Kramer)

Radio astronomical measurements allow the study of a variety of questions in fundamental physics. Those questions range from the equation-of-state of super-dense matter to the investigation of fundamental forces such as gravity and magnetism.

Star Formation and Galaxy Evolution
(Amélie Saintonge)

Galaxies grow and evolve through successive episodes of star formation; central to this picture are therefore the flows of gas that feed the interstellar medium, the processes that regulate the formation of stars, and the energetic feedback that returns material and energy to the larger scale environment.

Radio Astronomy / VLBI
(Anton Zensus)

By employing radio-interferometry, extragalactic objects and their centres are investigated in great detail. The Very Long Base Line Interferometry (VLBI) method is applied by correlating data from telescopes distributed worldwide and using them as a “giant“ combined telescope within the framework of coordinated arrays as the the European VLBI network (EVN). In addition, global VLBI experiments are conducted in cooperation with telescopes in the USA.

Research News

Puzzling ultraviolet radiation in the birthplaces of stars

November 25, 2025

Iason Skretas (MPIfR) and Agata Karska (University Torun & MPIfR) together with an international team of astronomers used the MIRI instrument onboard JWST to identify the presence of ultraviolet radiation in five young stars in the Ophiuchus region ...

New EHT Images Reveal Unexpected Polarization Flips at M87*

September 16, 2025

To the point

• New event-horizon-telescope (EHT) images of M87* reveal unexpected flips in polarized light between 2017 and 2021, showing that magnetic fields near the black hole are dynamic and evolving.

• For the first time, the EHT ...

Announcements

Research Group on Cosmic Jets Gets Extended

December 12, 2025

Since 2021, the research group “Relativistic Jets in Active Galaxies” (FOR 5195), funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), has been investigating the high-energy streams of particles that shoot out at nearly the speed of light from the ...

Enabling colour images of black holes in a new global project

November 26, 2025

The world’s biggest and most iconic radio telescopes including the Effelsberg 100-m telescope are joining forces with a bold aim – to make new images of black holes and their surroundings, in detail and in new colours.

Radio signals measured at high ...

Job Offers

Postdoctoral researcher position (m/f/d) | fast transient astronomy as part of the DFG-funded dynaverse Excellence Cluster

December 10, 2025