Euclid opens a treasure trove of data: MPE plays a crucial role in exploring the dark universe
The first Euclid data published by ESA (Q1) provide impressive insights into the depths of the universe. They include high-resolution images of 26 million galaxies, reveal the finest structures and make it possible for the first time to precisely determine the shape and distance of more than 380,000 galaxies. This data is a milestone and yet only marks the beginning of research into dark matter and dark energy. And the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) plays a central role in all of this.
Einstein Probe Uncovers Rare X-ray Binary System
Einstein Probe satellite, a collaboration of, among others, the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), has captured an extraordinary celestial event: an X-ray outburst from a rare binary system. This discovery sheds new light on the evolution of massive stars and demonstrates the unique capabilities of Einstein Probe in detecting transient X-ray sources.
Asteroid Bennu Sample Reveals a Broth of Life’s Ingredients
Studies of rock and dust from asteroid Bennu delivered to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and analyzed by, among others, researchers from MPE’s Center of Astrochemistry (CAS), have revealed molecules that, on our planet, are key to life, as well as a history of saltwater that could have served as the “broth” for these compounds to interact and combine.
Unveiling the 'Ghost' Baryonic Matter
A team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) has shed light on one of the most elusive components of the universe: the warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM).
eROSITA unveils asymmetries in temperature and shape of our Local Hot Bubble
Our Solar System dwells in a low-density environment called the Local Hot Bubble (LHB), filled by a tenuous, million-degree hot gas emitting dominantly in soft X-rays. A team led by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) used the eROSITA All-Sky Survey data and found a large-scale temperature gradient in this bubble, possibly linked with past supernova explosions that expanded and reheated the bubble.
Zoom into the first page of Euclid’s great cosmic atlas
Euclid reveals the first deep view into the cosmos, spanning an area of 500 full moons in the sky.
The cosmic-ray ionization rate in the local Milky Way is ten times lower than previously thought
An international group of astrophysicists, led by MPE scientists Marta Obolentseva, Alexei Ivlev, Kedron Silsbee, and Paola Caselli, have revisited the long-standing problem of evaluating the rate at which cosmic rays ionize gas in the interstellar medium.
Hyper-luminous, Yet Surprisingly Organized
The galaxy PJ0116-24 lives about 10 billion years ago and appears about 10,000 times brighter in the infrared than our Milky Way. It belongs to a rare population of so-called hyper-luminous infrared galaxies (HyLIRG), which are usually formed by the collision of several galaxies. Members of the Infrared Group at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) including Daizhong Liu and Natascha M. Förster Schreiber, together with researchers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and other international institutes, now showed that a HyLIRG can also arise in a massive turbulent rotating disk within a single galaxy, where the gas is organized in a structured way. This finding was made possible through new observations including from the novel ERIS instrument at the ESO Very Large Telescope, built by a consortium also led by the MPE Infrared Group, and strong magnification caused by a massive elliptical galaxy that lies between us and PJ0116-24. This galaxy acts as a gravitational lens stretching PJ0116-24 in an “Einstein ring” and making it appear 17 times brighter.
JWST sheds Light on the Journey of Cosmic Icy Grains
Using the JWST, a team of researchers including Paola Caselli and Michela Giuliano from MPE, have probed deep into dense cloud cores, revealing details of interstellar ice that were previously unobservable. The study focuses on the Chamaeleon I region, using JWST’s NIRCam to measure spectroscopic lines towards hundreds of stars behind the cloud.
New discovery in the sky: Largest superstructure in the nearby universe unveiled
A team of scientists has found the largest superstructure ever reliably characterised in the universe. The discovery was made while mapping the nearby universe using galaxy clusters detected by the ROSAT X-ray satellite's survey of the sky. With a length of about 1.4 billion lightyears, the new structure, which consists mainly of dark matter, is the largest known structure to date.
