This website uses cookies for better user experience. Learn more in our Data protection statement and the Cookies page, where you can also enable/disable individual cookies and services. By continuing to use this site, you consent to our policies.

Welcome!

The Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) is dedicated to astrophysical questions ranging from the exploration of our Sun to the evolution of the cosmos. It focuses on the study of cosmic magnetic fields, extragalactic astrophysics and the development of research technologies in the fields of spectroscopy, robotic telescopes and E-science.

old_disc_RVS_footprint2
magenta-violet gaseous spheres
MUSE Ultra Deep Field
Sun-magnetic_field_lines
Azubi_Oskar_Sauerbrey

Discovery of ancient stars on the stellar thin disk of the Milky Way

Machine learning shed new light on the formation history of our Milky Way: a surprising discovery about the evolution of our galaxy using data from the Gaia mission found a large number of ancient stars on orbits similar to that of our Sun. They formed the Milky Way’s thin disc already less than 1 billion years after the Big Bang, several billion years earlier than previously believed.

[more]

Virtual lecture from the Babelsberg Starry Nights on 18th July 2024

How many brown dwarfs are there in the solar neighbourhood? Are they all known yet? The next talk of the Virtual Babelsberg Starry Nights of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) on the topic “News from the solar neighbourhood" (German) by Dr. Ralf-Dieter Scholz will be broadcast on the YouTube channel “Urknall, Weltall und das Leben” (Big Bang, Universe and Life) from Thursday, 18. July 2024.

[more]

Research Area II: Extragalactic Astrophysics

Galaxies are fundamental cosmic building blocks. At the largest scales, they serve as markers to study the distribution of matter in the universe - active galaxies and quasars are particularly important because of their intrinsic brightness. Nearby objects can be spatially resolved and consist of populations with very different patterns of motion, star formation histories and chemical abundances.

[more]

Research Area I: Cosmic Magnetic Fields

Cosmic events are determined by two natural forces: gravity and magnetic fields. The magnetic field research at the AIP is mainly focused on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations, the magnetically induced activities on the Sun and the stars, solar coronaphysics as well as space weather in our solar system and on planets around other stars.

[more]

The art of filing, drilling and milling

Newly qualified apprentice Oskar Sauerbrey speaks about his training as a precision mechanic at AIP in an interview. Two new apprenticeships will be available again from September 2024; applications can still be submitted until June. The Leibniz-Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) is characterized not only by its various research sections, but also by the technical section, which is responsible for the construction and maintenance of modern instruments and historical telescopes. The associated precision engineering workshop regularly trains young people. One of them is Oskar Sauerbrey. He has just completed his precision mechanics apprenticeship in January 2024 and gives us an exclusive insight into his experiences at AIP.

[more]

 

Latest News
old_disc_Sun_old_young_rotation

Discovery of ancient stars on the stellar thin disk of the Milky Way
July 31, 2024

With the help of machine learning, a team at the AIP has made a surprising discovery. Based on data from the Gaia mission, a large number of ancient stars with similar orbits to our sun have been discovered. They formed the thin disk of the Milky Way several billion years earlier than previously thought. These results provide new insights into early star formation and the evolution of galaxies.

[more]
magenta-violet gaseous spheres

Virtual lecture: Babelsberg Starry Night on 18th July 2024
July 17, 2024

The next talk of the Virtual Babelsberg Starry Nights of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) on the topic “News from the solar neighbourhood" (German) by Dr. Ralf-Dieter Scholz will be broadcast on the YouTube channel “Urknall, Weltall und das Leben” (Big Bang, Universe and Life) from Thursday, 18. July 2024.

[more]
Three partial images showing the star cluster Omega Centauri with countless stars, looking closer to the centre image by image

First medium-sized black hole discovered in the centre of Omega Centauri
July 10, 2024

Newly identified, extremely fast-moving stars in the star cluster Omega Centauri provide solid evidence for a black hole in its centre. With at least 8200 solar masses this is the first intermediate-mass black hole reliably observed to date. The study was published in the journal Nature.

[more]
 

Have you heard?

Follow us on the following social media platforms:

Latest Publications

Damping wing-like features in the stacked Ly α forest: Potential neutral hydrogen islands at z < 6

Zhu, Y., ... Puchwein, E., ...
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 533, 1, L49 – Published September 2024
doi:10.1093/mnrasl/slae061, NASA ADS

Revealing the chemical structure of the magellanic clouds with APOGEE. I. Calculating individual stellar ages of RGB stars in the large magellanic cloud

Povick, J. T., ... Cioni, M.-R. L., ...
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society – Published August 2024
doi:10.1093/mnras/stae1949, NASA ADS

Why does the Milky Way have a bar?

Khoperskov, S., Minchev, I., Steinmetz, M., Ratcliffe, B., Walcher, J. C., Libeskind, N.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society – Published August 2024
doi:10.1093/mnras/stae1902, NASA ADS

Ram-pressure stripped radio tails detected in the dynamically active environment of the Shapley Supercluster

Merluzzi, P., ... Krajnović, D., ...
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society – Published August 2024
doi:10.1093/mnras/stae1867, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Galaxies and Quasars

Simulated Coronal Mass Ejections on a Young Solar-type Star and the Associated Instantaneous Angular Momentum Loss

Xu, Y., Alvarado-Gómez, J. D., ... Poppenhäger, K., ...
The Astrophysical Journal, 971, 2, 153 – Published August 2024
doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad5845, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Stellar Physics and Exoplanets

Denser Environments Cultivate Larger Galaxies: A Comprehensive Study beyond the Local Universe with 3 Million Hyper Suprime-Cam Galaxies

Ghosh, A., ... Powell, M. C., ...
The Astrophysical Journal, 971, 2, 142 – Published August 2024
doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad596f, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Galaxies and Quasars

Proper Motions and Orbits of Distant Local Group Dwarf Galaxies from a Combination of Gaia and Hubble Data

Bennet, P., ... Sacchi, E., ...
The Astrophysical Journal, 971, 1, 98 – Published August 2024
doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad5349, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Supercomputing and E-Science

Coronal Models and Detection of the Open Magnetic Field

Asvestari, E., ... Hofmeister, S. J., ...
The Astrophysical Journal, 971, 1, 45 – Published August 2024
doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad5155, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Solar Physics

Discovery of the local counterpart of disc galaxies at z > 4: The oldest thin disc of the Milky Way using Gaia-RVS

Nepal, S., Chiappini, C., ... Guiglion, G., ... Steinmetz, M., ... Khalatyan, A.
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 688, A167 – Published August 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202449445, NASA ADS

SDSS1335+0728: The awakening of a ∼106 M⊙ black hole

Sánchez-Sáez, P., ... Homan, D., Krumpe, M., ... Tubín-Arenas, D., ...
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 688, A157 – Published August 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202347957, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: X-ray Astronomy

The satellite galaxy plane of NGC 4490 in light of ΛCDM. Sparsity of similarly extreme analogs and a possible role of satellite pairs

Pawlowski, M. S., ... Taibi, S., Júlio, M. P., Kanehisa, K. J., ...
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 688, A153 – Published August 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202449954, NASA ADS

Beyond the surface: Hydrodynamical N-body simulations of the interacting dwarf galaxies NGC 5238 and UGC 8760

Pascale, R., ... Sacchi, E., ...
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 688, A144 – Published August 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202348991, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Supercomputing and E-Science

Stellar angular momentum of intermediate-redshift galaxies in MUSE surveys

Muñoz López, C., Krajnović, D., ... Herrero-Alonso, Y., Urrutia, T., ... Pessa, I.
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 688, A75 – Published August 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202449758, NASA ADS

oMEGACat. II. Photometry and Proper Motions for 1.4 Million Stars in Omega Centauri and Its Rotation in the Plane of the Sky

Häberle, M., ... Kacharov, N., ...
The Astrophysical Journal, 970, 2, 192 – Published August 2024
doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad47f5, NASA ADS

"Forbidden" stars in the eROSITA all-sky survey: X-ray emission from very late-type giants

Schmitt, J. H. M. M., ... Schwope, A.
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 688, A9 – Published August 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202449181, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: X-ray Astronomy

Unraveling the birthplaces of NGC 2070's massive stars, tracked with MUSE and revealed with JWST

Castro, N.
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 688, L4 – Published August 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202347528, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Astrophotonics (innoFSPEC)

Median surface-brightness profiles of Lyman-α haloes in the MUSE Extremely Deep Field

Guo, Y., ... Wisotzki, L., ... Herrero Alonso, Y., ... Pharo, J., ...
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 688, A37 – Published August 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202347658, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Galaxies and Quasars

The Temporal Evolution of Nonneutralized Electric Currents and the Complexity of Solar Active Regions

Kontogiannis, I., Georgoulis, M. K.
The Astrophysical Journal, 970, 2, 162 – Published August 2024
doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad51fb, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Solar Physics

oMEGACat. III. Multiband Photometry and Metallicities Reveal Spatially Well-mixed Populations within ω Centauri's Half-light Radius

Nitschai, M. S., ... Kacharov, N., ...
The Astrophysical Journal, 970, 2, 152 – Published August 2024
doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad5289, NASA ADS

The boundary of cosmic filaments

Wang, W., ... Libeskind, N. I., ...
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 532, 4, 4604 – Published August 2024
doi:10.1093/mnras/stae1801, NASA ADS

The Lyman-limit photon mean free path at the end of late reionization in the Sherwood-Relics simulations

Feron, J., ... Puchwein, E.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 532, 2, 2401 – Published August 2024
doi:10.1093/mnras/stae1636, NASA ADS

JWST observations of galaxy-damping wings during reionization interpreted with cosmological simulations

Keating, L. C., ... Puchwein, E., ...
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 532, 2, 1646 – Published August 2024
doi:10.1093/mnras/stae1530, NASA ADS

Growth of high redshift supermassive black holes from heavy seeds in the BRAHMA cosmological simulations: Implications of overmassive black holes

Bhowmick, A. K., ... Weinberger, R., ...
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society – Published July 2024
doi:10.1093/mnras/stae1819, NASA ADS

Fast-moving stars around an intermediate-mass black hole in ω Centauri

Häberle, M., ... Kacharov, N., ...
Nature, 631, 8020, 285 – Published July 2024
doi:10.1038/s41586-024-07511-z, NASA ADS

Sun-as-a-star Observations of Obscuration Dimmings Caused by Filament Eruptions

Xu, Y., Tian, H., Veronig, A. M., Dissauer, K.
The Astrophysical Journal, 970, 1, 60 – Published July 2024
doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad500b, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Stellar Physics and Exoplanets

HSTPROMO Internal Proper-motion Kinematics of Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies. I. Velocity Anisotropy and Dark Matter Cusp Slope of Draco

Vitral, E., ... Pawlowski, M. S., ...
The Astrophysical Journal, 970, 1, 1 – Published July 2024
doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad571c, NASA ADS

Cataclysmic variables around the period-bounce: An eROSITA-enhanced multiwavelength catalog

Muñoz-Giraldo, D., Stelzer, B., Schwope, A.
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 687, A305 – Published July 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202449358, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: X-ray Astronomy

Rapidly rotating Population III stellar models as a source of primary nitrogen

Tsiatsiou, S., ... Chiappini, C., ...
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 687, A307 – Published July 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202449156, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Milky Way and the Local Volume

Extreme magnetic field modulus variability of the Bp star HD 57372

Hubrig, S., Chojnowski, S. D., Järvinen, S. P., Ilyin, I., Pan, K.
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 687, A282 – Published July 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202449630, NASA ADS

Thermally emitting isolated neutron star candidates from the SRG/eROSITA All-Sky Survey

Kurpas, J., Schwope, A. D., Pires, A. M., Haberl, F.
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 687, A251 – Published July 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202450248, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: X-ray Astronomy

[List of AIP publications] [AIP publications in ADS]

 

Events and dates at AIP

Colloquium: E. Vasiliev (Cambridge)
05.09.2024, 14:30 – 15:30
Scientific
[more]

Day of the Open Monument (Telegrafenberg)
08.09.2024, 10:00 – 18:00
Public Event

On the occasion of the Day of the Open Monument, the “Förderverein Großer Refraktor e.V.” association opens the doors to the historic refracting telescope on 8 September 2024 from 10 am to 6 pm. The members of the association offer guided tours of the astrophysical highlights of the Telegrafenberg as well as a demonstration of the telescope. This year also open for visiting: the Einstein Tower, celebrating its 100th anniversary!

[more]

External Colloquium | Emilia Kilpua (U. of Helsinki)
19.09.2024, 14:00 – 16:00
Scientific
[more]

Virtual Babelsberg Starry Night
19.09.2024, 20:00 – 21:00
Public Event

Talk: Our Galaxy has a history (Cristina Chiappini)

[more]

Scientific Advisory Board
24.09.2024 – 25.09.2024
Internal Event
[more]
Public Event
Scientific
Internal Event
Holidays