Research News Archive

2014

Dark matter is at the centre of our understanding of the physics of the early Universe, of cosmic large-scale structure and of galaxy formation. In its simplest form, "cold dark matter" consists of non-relativistic weakly interacting particles of a kind not included in the standard model of particle physics. On astrophysical scales the dark matter only interacts with baryons (ordinary matter) through the force of gravity. Because of the simple physics this entails, its dynamics and clustering can be followed through N-body simulations. Recently, scientists at the MPA have performed cosmological N-body simulations showing that the mergers of galaxies (containing both stars and dark matter) at the centre of galaxy clusters can alter the central distribution of dark matter in a way that alleviates recent discrepancies found between observations and simulations. [more]
Since the discovery of the expansion of the universe in 1929, measuring cosmological distances has played a fundamental role in testing the cosmological models. Scientists at MPA now propose a crucially improved ruler method in addition to the well-known standard candle and standard ruler methods, which use the known luminosity or the known size of an object, respectively. For their method, they use a strong gravitational lens system with a time-varying source (e.g. a quasar) to measure the angular diameter distance to the lens. This method opens a new avenue to chart our universe and to understand the origin of the acceleration of the universe. [more]


October: A new neutrino-emission asymmetry in forming neutron stars
September: Detailed gravitational lens modelling of the galaxy cluster MACS J1149.5+2223
August: X-ray diagnostics of the donor star in ultra-compact X-ray binaries
July: New light on the origin of the Galactic ridge X-ray emission
June: Stellar halos reveal galactic accretion: Big fish eat small fish
May: Resolving the radio sky
April: A New analytical model for turbulence pressure in galaxy clusters
March: An observational and theoretical view of the atomic gas distribution in galaxies
February: Connecting the formation of monster black holes to streaming motions in the early Universe
January: Superfluid Effects in Neutron Star Oscillations

2013

December: D³PO: Denoising, Deconvolving, and Decomposing Photon Observations
November: Why do the most massive galaxies in the local Universe stand still?
October: Planck maps of the cosmic microwave background test the fundamental symmetry of space-time during cosmic inflation
September: Metals in galaxies: Is what we see what we expect?
August: Searching for Type Ia Supernovae Progenitors through Circumstellar Material
July: Hunting for hints on galaxy formation in stellar spectra
June: A New Gauge of the Origin of Type Ia Supernovae: Searching for He II Recombination Lines in Elliptical Galaxies
May: The Bluedisk project: searching for clues about how disk galaxies form
April: The Fine Art of Cooking an Exquisite Stellar Banquet
March: Stellar lithium abundances support standard Big Bang scenario
February: Asteroseismology of magnetars
January: Distances in the Galaxy: where are those metal-poor stars?

2012

December: A nova origin of the gas cloud at the Galactic Center?
November: First Light for the Millennium Run Observatory
October: Smashing white dwarfs: explaining the brightness of cosmic explosions
September: Trojan horses within molecular clouds: How do a few massive stars determine the fate of a whole galaxy?
August: Lyman Alpha Emitters around the Epoch of Reionization: Tip of the Iceberg
July: Cosmic Warming by the First Quasars: Did the earliest supermassive black holes slow the growth of the rest?
June: Chemical composition of old, metal-poor stars poses new questions
May: What makes a galaxy a disk or a spheroid?
April: Gas in Galaxies at the End of their Lives - Food for New Stars
March: Infrared Beacons in the Universe - Red Supergiant Stars and the Chemical Composition of Galaxies
February: Cosmic Vibrations from Neutron Stars
January: SDSS-III finds a large population of massive galaxies still alive eight billion years after the Big Bang

2011

December: Black hole pairs: shrinking, stretching and flipping
November: Music of stars reveals their properties
October: Cold gas and star formation in galaxies
September: The Millennium-XXL Project: Simulating the Galaxy Population in Dark Energy Universes
August: Curious, these inflated hot Jupiters ...
July: Faraday caustics: Light patterns from cosmic magnetism
June: Present-day cosmic elemental abundances from massive stars in the solar neighbourhood
April: New Evidence for inside-out formation of galaxy disks
March: The Odd Spatial Distribution of Radio Galaxies on Cosmic Scales
February: The First Stars in the Universe
January: Data analysis and steam engines

2010

December: Stars and latte macchiato
November: A deep look at the Milky Way in hard X-rays
October: Exploring the history of the Milky Way
September: Solving the mystery of the Sun's low lithium abundance - and its relation to extrasolar planets
August: Magnetic fields in merging neutron stars
July: What is the matter with dwarf galaxies?
June: Are the progenitors of Type Ia supernovae less massive than previously thought?
May: Iron peak elements in metal-poor stars
April: Polarization as a way to measure transverse gas motions in galaxy clusters
March: Imaging the surface of massive stars
February: The GALEX Arecibo SDSS Survey
January: Massive, Dense Nuclei in Young Starbursts: Progenitors of Early Type Galaxy Cusps?

2009

December: Mapping of the Universe beyond the Known
November: Are Neutron Stars Strange?
October: Mapping extragalactic dark matter structures through gamma-rays
September: Supermassive black holes grow in different ways
August: Mathematics of digital senses: Information Field Theory for signal recognition
July: Unveiling the intricate nature of galaxy bulges
June: Quasars in the Early Universe: Smokestacks of the first Cosmic Cities?
May: The shining make-up of our star
April: Jets are magnetic!
March: Using Galaxy Clusters as Distant Mirrors of the Universal Acceleration
February: Dynamical formation of X-ray binaries in the nucleus of Andromeda galaxy.
January: Hyper-velocity star challenges the Galactic Centre scenario

2008

December: Our Galaxy and its stellar halo
November: Solar prominences: the need for dynamical modelling
October: Cosmography
September: The shapes of planetary orbits
August: Galactic wind in the bulge of the Andromeda galaxy
July: What Dark Matter should look like
June: What can the cosmological recombination radiation tell us about the thermal history of the Universe?
May: Measuring invisible pressure with optical and X-ray data
April: Searching for observational evidence of QSO feedback
March: Connecting star formation and black hole accretion with galaxy-galaxy interactions
February: Elemental fingerprints of the oldest stars
January: A close look at solar granulation

2007

December: Numerical sunspots
November: Unusually bright supernovae from asymmetric stellar explosions
October: Summed hard X-ray spectrum of local AGN: a link to the cosmic X-ray background
September: Supplying simulation data to the world
August: Connecting star formation and black hole growth in local galaxies
July: Cosmological hydrogen recombination lines from redshifts z~1400
June: Building up the brightest galaxies of the Universe
May: INTEGRAL probes large scale structure of the local Universe
April: How to produce a burst of gamma-rays
March: How are Brightest Cluster Galaxies different from normal galaxies?
February: New predictions encourage the extragalactic search for gravitational waves from supernovae
January: Resolving the Galactic X-ray background

2006

December: High-fidelity imaging of the cosmic mass distribution
December: The Outer Disks of Galaxies Observed by GALEX
November: Neutron star seismology challenges strange star models
October: Measuring the cosmic hard X-ray background with INTEGRAL
September: Do sunspots affect the Earth's climate?
September: A neutron star-driven X-ray flash associated with SN 2006aj
August: Map of the Galaxy in the 6.7 keV emission line
July: The Supernova that Made the Crab Nebula
June: The stellar populations of nearby galaxies as fossil records of galaxy evolution
May: Starquake reveals hidden structure of a neutron star
April: Hard X-ray glow of the Milky Way is now mapped with INTEGRAL
March: New Map of Milky Way Reveals Millions of Unseen Objects
February: Connecting the physical properties of galaxies with their clustering
January: Feeding the Milky Way Central Black Hole with Stellar Winds

2005

December: The 3-dimensional structure of a sunspot
November: Can Buoyant Bubbles Heat the Cores of Clusters of Galaxies?
October: Short Gamma-Ray Bursts: Death Throes of Merging Neutron Stars
September: A Violation of Cosmological Isotropy?
August: Magnetic Turbulence in the Hearts of Clusters of Galaxies
July: Abundance Stratification in Type Ia Supernovae
May: Annihilation of positrons in the Galaxy
April: The parallel lives of super-massive black holes and their host galaxies
March: Discovery of the binary companion of Tycho Brahe's supernova
February: Colliding galaxies light up dormant black holes
February: Hysteresis in spectral state transitions of accreting black holes
January: Integral rolls back history of Milky Way's super-massive black hole
January: Searching for Fossil Star Streams in Nearby Galaxies

2004

December: Observing reionization with a radio telescope
November: Tramp stars in the intergalactic space within galaxy clusters: records of a violent history
October: Three-dimensional simulations of Type Ia supernova explosions
September: Short Gamma-Ray Bursts -- New Models Shed Light on Enigmatic Explosions
August: Integral discovers unusual kind of gamma-ray burst
August: The largest N-body simulation of the universe
July: Low Mass Black Holes Still Grow Today
June: The outermost stellar haloes of galaxies
May: The chemical evolution of galaxy clusters and of the galaxies within them
April: Looking into the heart of a supernova
March: The magnetic fields of A-stars and white dwarfs explained
February: RXTE 3-20 keV all sky survey, Statistical properties of local AGNs
January: Protons with Horsepowers: On the Traces of the Universe's Highest Energy Particles

2003

December: Can we see the dark matter?
November: Galaxy Clusters when the Universe was Middle Aged
October: Neutron Stars as Cannonballs
September: Glowing in the Cold - New Theory for Mysterious Shining in Clusters of Galaxies
August: A Jet is a Jet, Big or Small: Scale Invariance of Black Hole Jets
July: High-mass X-ray Binaries as a Star Formation Rate Indicator
June: Supernova Simulations Still Defy Explosions
May: Intergalactic Medium Reionization after WMAP Observations
April: Strong X-ray variability of black holes - a puzzle or natural phenomenon?
March: Frozen accretion and spectacular X-ray bursts from the black hole in our Galactic Center
February: Does the black hole in the center of our Galaxy rotate clockwise?
January: The Connection Between Active Galactic Nuclei and Starbursts

2002

December: The Physics of Type Ia Supernova Explosions: A new European Research and Training Network
November: Decrypting high-resolution Galaxy Spectra
October: The cosmic star formation history
September: Scientists from around the world discuss supernovae in Garching
August: Thermonuclear Flames in Type Ia Supernova Explosions - A Microscopic View
July: M87: Viewing the Hole Feeding
June: Galaxy - Dark Matter Connection
May: Cosmic Rays as Messengers from Black Holes
April: Studying Galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
March: Intergalactic Weather Station Reports Shock Wave
February: Magnetic fields as cause for gamma-ray bursts
January: An Obscure Ingredient of Galaxy Clusters

2001

December: Strong Flashing light from the black hole in KV UMa
November: Gravitational wave bursts from core collapse supernovae
October: Hot and very hot gas around black holes
September: Lighthouses of the Universe
August: Quasars and the Cosmic Distance Scale
July: Simulating the Local Galaxy Population
June: Unveiling the Gas Distribution in the Early Universe
May: Old stars telling about the Big Bang
April: Gas Disks Surrounding Binary Stars
March: Radio Ghosts in Galaxy Cluster Collisions
February: How do Massive Stars Explode?
January: Unveiling the secrets of the radio source 3C120

2000

December: Supermassive Black Holes Power Galactic Outflows
November: Mixing through shear instabilities
October: Self-interacting dark matter
September: A Unified Model for the Evolution of Galaxies and Active Galactic Nuclei
August: The Microwave Background and the Planck Mission
July: Longterm Evolution of Extragalactic Jets
June: Type Ia Supernova Simulations
May: Historical Supernovae
April: Accretion onto Black Holes
March: Relativistic jets from collapsars and gamma-ray bursts
February: Triggered planet formation in massive protoplanetary discs
January: The convective URCA process in white dwarfs

1999

December: Deep Impact from Extragalactic Space: Debris from a Shattered Galaxy discovered in the Sun's Backyard
November: Nucleosynthesis and Instabilities in Core Collapse Supernovae
October: Comets in the solar wind
September: Magnetic Fields in Galaxy Clusters
August: First Mass-Selected Dark Matter Halo
July: Gamma-ray burst afterglows
June: Solar Neutrinos
May: Interacting and Merging Galaxies
April: The Large-scale Distribution of Galaxies
March: Thermonuclear Fusion of Hydrogen in Classical Novae
February: Neutral iron Kalpha diagnostic -- X-ray archaeology

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