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The Planck satellite mission to measure the cosmic microwave background radiation – the echo of the Big Bang – was completed in September 2020 with the publication of the final set of publications. In addition to groundbreaking insights into cosmology, the ESA mission also provided a large number of astrophysical results. A brief review.

Planck – mission accomplished

Computer simulation reveals similar structures for large and small dark matter halos

Zooming in on Dark Matter

The origin of mysterious fast radio bursts (FRBs) has been debated since their discovery in 2007. A theory developed at Columbia University and MPA suggested that FRBs are emitted by blast waves from flaring magnetars -- neutron stars with ultrastrong magnetic fields. On 28 April 2020, an FRB was detected from SGR 1935+2154, a known magnetar in our Galaxy. A new numerical experiment demonstrates how perturbations can grow in a magnetar and launch a magnetic explosion – and a burst such as the observed one.

Fast Radio Bursts from Magnetars

Astronomers at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), have revealed an extremely distant and therefore very young galaxy that looks surprisingly like our Milky Way. The galaxy is so far away its light has taken more than 12 billion years to reach us: we see it as it was when the Universe was just 1.4 billion years old. It is also surprisingly unchaotic, contradicting theories that all galaxies in the early Universe were turbulent and unstable. This unexpected discovery challenges our understanding of how galaxies form, giving new insights into the past of our Universe.

Astronomers find most distant Milky Way look-alike with gravitational lensing

When interstellar gas falls towards a supermassive black hole, it liberates vast amounts of energy - so vast as to be capable of ejecting much of a galaxy’s gaseous reservoir. Ultimately, supermassive black holes may thus deprive themselves of further fuel and bring about the end of their own growth and that of their host galaxies. A new model developed at MPA now makes it possible to simulate winds accelerated by accreting black holes in galaxy evolution simulations in a physically accurate and validated way. By blowing dense gas from the galactic nucleus, and by halting inward flows from the galactic halo, the winds play a vital role in shaping the evolution of the black hole host galaxy.

How black holes power galactic super-winds

Two teams of astronomers have made a compelling case in the 33-year-old mystery surrounding Supernova 1987A. Based on observations with ALMA and a theoretical follow-up study, the scientists provide new insight for the argument that a neutron star is hiding deep inside the remains of the exploded star. This would be the youngest neutron star in our cosmic neighbourhood known to date.

ALMA finds possible sign of neutron star in Supernova 1987A

Recently, in correspondence with the 10th birthday of LOFAR, a core group of researchers including MPA scientists published the most stringent upper limits on the reionization signal from the early Universe. These observations are able to exclude some reionization models and constrain the thermal and ionization state of the intergalactic medium when the Universe was still in its infancy.

Towards a LOFAR detection of the 21cm line from the Epoch of Reionization

Extracting cosmological information from galaxy surveys is a difficult task – one to which MPA researchers are now one step closer. Using a theoretical framework known as effective field theory combined with a novel statistical approach, they were able to correctly recover the input cosmology based on a catalog of simplified simulated galaxies.

Toward robust and optimal cosmology from galaxy clustering

News at MPA

Note due to corona: Contacting MPA

To contain the spread of corona virus infections, the MPA has enacted certain changes to protect its employees. Wherever possible, MPA staff will work from their home offices. For the time being, the MPA will not offer public events, and its staff will not undertake travel or attend conferences. Meetings will be held via video conferencing.
Therefore it might be difficult to reach some staff members by telephone, please use Email instead. Mail continues to be received. Please note, however, that there might be some delays in getting a response.
For information about MPG research on the Corona virus, please see here:

Kippenhahn Prize for two supernova papers

September 28, 2020

The best student publications at MPA in 2019 are two supernova papers: Andeas Flörs is awarded with the Rudolf-Kippenhahn-Prize for his paper entitled “Sub- Chandrasekhar progenitors favoured for Type Ia supernovae: evidence from late-time spectroscopy” and Simon Huber for his paper on “Strongly lensed SNe Ia in the era of LSST: observing cadence for lens discoveries and time-delay measurements”.

Navarro, Frenk & White named Clarivate Citation Laureates for 2020

September 24, 2020

Carlos S. Frenk, Julio F. Navarro and Simon D.M. White have been named Clarivate Citation Laureates for 2020 for their fundamental studies of galaxy formation and evolution, cosmic structure, and dark matter halos. The theoretical astrophysicists are among 24 new Citation Laureates with significant contributions in one of the four Nobel Prize areas named this year.

October 2020

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The first dark matter halos as probes of cosmology

from 15:30 to 16:30

Quantum Science with Tweezer Arrays

from 17:15 to 18:30

Radio2020 Symposium and GLOW annual assembly

from Oct 12, 2020 13:00 to Oct 14, 2020 13:15

Registration and abstract submission will close on September 10th

Radio2020 Symposium and GLOW annual assembly

from Oct 12, 2020 13:00 to Oct 14, 2020 13:15

Registration and abstract submission will close on September 10th

Same But Different: linking ice and gas observations towards low-mass star-forming regions

from 10:00 to 11:00

Radio2020 Symposium and GLOW annual assembly

from Oct 12, 2020 13:00 to Oct 14, 2020 13:15

Registration and abstract submission will close on September 10th

Introductory tutorial on HPC and Freya

from 14:00 to 17:00

Title 1: "SDSS eBOSS DR16 QSO clustering analysis and cosmological implications" and Title 2: "Constraining Early Dark Energy with Large Scale Structure"

from 15:00 to 16:00

"Fuzzy Dark Matter and the Challenge of Dark Matter Halo Cores"

from 11:00 to 12:00

"Constraints on the formation and evolution of the largest main belt asteroids”

from 15:15 to 16:15

Upcoming seminars

Klein aber fein: Mit Kristallen auf der Suche nach Dunkler Materie

Die Veranstaltung findet online statt.

Nov 3, 2020 19:00 - 20:30

online (siehe unten)

Job Offers

Postdoctoral positions in Theoretical Astrophysics at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Garching, Germany

October 01, 2020

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About MPA

Structure

Managing Director
Prof. Dr. Volker Springel

Scientific Members, Kollegium, Directors
Prof. Dr. Selma E. de MInk
Prof. Dr. Guinevere Kauffmann
Prof. Dr. Eiichiro Komatsu
Prof. Dr. Volker Springel

Emeritus Directors
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hillebrandt
Prof. Dr. Rashid Sunyaev
Prof. Dr. Simon White

External Scientific Members
Prof. Dr. Martin Asplund
Prof. Dr. Rolf-Peter Kudritzki
Prof. Dr. Werner Tscharnuter

Head of the administration
Hendrik Wanger

Contact

Press and Public Relations
Dr. Hannelore Haemmerle
Phone: 089 30000-3980
Cornelia Rickl
Phone: 089 30000-2201
Dr. Hans-Thomas Janka
Phone: 089 30000-2228

email: pr@mpa-garching.mpg.de

Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Garching
Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 1
Postfach 1317
D-85741 Garching, Germany

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