Announcements

A wealth of Molecules - investigating a Busy Star Factory in the Starburst Galaxy NGC 253

An international research team including Christian Henkel from the MPIfR in Bonn, Germany, has observed the center of the starburst galaxy NGC 253 with the ALMA radio telescope in Chile. They detected more than one hundred molecular species, far more than previous studies outside the Milky Way have detected. The high sensitivity of ALMA successfully detected molecules representing various stages of star evolution in the central region of NGC 253, and the high angular resolution of ALMA resolved the locations where these stages are taking place. The data allow the astronomers to understand better the physics and chemistry of this kind of galaxy (NAOJ Press Release, March 28, 2024). more

During the Spring Meetings of the German Physical Society (DPG), the dissertation prizes of the DPG sections were awarded to young researchers. Dr. Huanchen Hu from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn received the prize of the Matter and Cosmos Section (SMuK) for her work on "Gravity tests with pulsars using new-generation radio telescopes" (DPG press release of 27 March 2024, in German language). more

The IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference (CPS), has released a paper entitled that states its recommendations for the mitigation of satellite constellations’ impact on astronomy. The document is the culmination of 18 months’ work by a multidisciplinary group of experts, including astronomers, industry representatives and policy advisors, led by Gyula I. G. Józsa of MPIfR, co-coordinator of the Opticon RadioNet Pilot Sky Protection Group. It represents the view of the IAU Centre on what steps should now be taken to address the issue (CPS Release, March 14, 2024). more

Feedback fingerprints in the clouds of 30 Doradus observed with APEX

An area of nearly 14 square degrees in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) was observed in the 12CO (3 − 2) molecular line with the APEX telescope in Chile. A research team led by Konstantin Grishunin & Axel Weiß (MPIfR Bonn) presents the results of their search for large-scale feedback fingerprints in the molecular clouds of the LMC's 30 Doradus region. The ongoing APEX LMC CO line Legacy Survey will extend the work to an unbiased view of the full molecular gas distribution in that galaxy (Original Paper by K. Grishunin et al., Astronomy & Astrophysics, published online on February 13, 2024). more

Arno A. Penzias received a Nobel prize in Physics 1978 together with Robert W. Wilson for their discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation. Between 1978 and 1984 he was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board (Fachbeirat) of the MPIfR (Link to Bell Labs News Release, January 23, 2024). more

On December 20, 2023, the Federal Cabinet approved Germany's accession to the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO). The world's largest super telescope is currently under construction in South Africa and Australia. The MPIfR and the MPG are already involved in the project, with radio telescopes which will be added to the core of the telescope, MeerKAT, in South Africa. (BMBF Release, December 20, 2023, in German language). more

World Radiocommunication Conference puts radio astronomy on the agenda

New studies to improve the protection of radio astronomy measurements from satellite systems more

Although the origins of Venus and Earth share some similarities, their atmospheres evolved in a markedly different way. The composition of Venus' atmosphere - mainly carbon dioxide and nitrogen - results from a running greenhouse effect in the past. The UV radiation from the sun dissociates the carbon dioxide, but to date, the thus released atomic oxygen has not been evidenced yet. Employing the far-infrared spectrometer upGreat, developed and built at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR) and the Institute of Physics at the University of Cologne in cooperation with the DLR Institute for Optical Sensor Systems, Heinz-Wilhelm Hübers from the DLR institute and his collaborators succeeded in directly detecting the element. As the data analysis suggests, the oxygen is transported from the dayside to the nightside of Venus. The work, which is published today in the journal Nature Communications, is coauthored by three collaborators from MPIfR. more

The „Astroplot of the Week” Twitter image on October 14, 2023 is taken from the publication “Metrewave Galactic Plane with the uGMRT (MeGaPluG) Survey: Lessons from the pilot study” in Astronomy & Astrophysics with Rohit Dokara/MPIfR as first author (A&A 678, A72, Fig. 7). more

ngVLA Open Day Event at mtex

September 28, 2023

mtex antenna technology was awarded the contract by NRAO & AUI to develop, design, and produce the first 18-metre prototype telescope for the next generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) radio astronomy facility. Top scientists from the USA and Germany including Anton Zensus from MPIfR will deliver remarks and celebrate this exciting collaboration in technological advancement and scientific discovery at the Open Day ceremony in Schkeuditz/Saxonia (mtex News,September 28, 2023). more

For being the first to envision imaging the immediate surroundings of a black hole, and for his leadership of the “Event Horizon Telescope”, specifically designed for this purpose, Prof. Heino Falcke (Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands & MPI for Radio Astronomy, Bonn, Germany) will receive this year’s Balzan prizes (Announcement Balzan Foundation, September 11, 2023). more

Open Day at Effelsberg Radio Observatory

on Saturday, September 09, 2023 more

Recent detection of polarized thermal emission from dust grains in a high-redshift, rapidly star-forming galaxy can give us an insight into the formation and evolution of magnetic fields in large-scale structures of the early Universe. News & View Comment by Rainer Beck / MPIfR on the publication “Polarized thermal emission from dust in a galaxy at redshift 2.6” in “Nature”. more

ERC Starting Grant for Dr. Aditya Parthasarathy

How do galaxies evolve? What happens when supermassive black holes merge? How did the Universe look like just after the Big Bang? more

The German Astronomical Society (Astronomische Gesellschaft, AG) today announces prize winners for this year. Felicitas Mokler of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy will receive the Hanno and Ruth Roelin Prize for Science Journalism. The award ceremony will take place at the AG's annual meeting in Berlin in September (AG press release, August 30, 2023). more

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