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A vivid image of the spiral galaxy Messier 77 (M77), also known as NGC 1068. The galaxy exhibits an impressive structure with a brightly glowing centre and spiralling arms extending far into space. The spiral arms are highlighted by pink and red regions, representing areas of active star formation. The galaxy is surrounded by countless small points of light, representing distant stars and galaxies. In the foreground, a bright, star-like point shines on the left side of the galaxy. The galaxy's colours range from white and blue in the centre to reddish hues in the outer regions.

Zooming in on a supermassive black hole in action

January 17, 2025

A new type of observation reveals what makes the cores of active galaxies glow. more

The image depicts an artistic rendering of a bright blazar, a supermassive black hole at the center of a distant galaxy, ejecting high-energy matter in the form of jets into space. The blazar appears as a glowing point of light with bluish-white rays scattering in various directions. In the background, a field of stars is visible, while the lower part of the image shows a portion of the Milky Way or another galaxy with brown and white gradients.

Record discovery points to particle jets, support for rapid black hole formation, in the early universe

December 17, 2024

Astronomers have discovered an important piece of the puzzle of how supermassive black holes were able to grow so quickly in the early universe: a special kind of active galactic nucleus so distant that its light has taken more than 12.9 billion years to reach us. This so-called blazar serves as a statistical marker: its existence implies the presence of a large but hidden population of similar objects, all of which should emit powerful particle jets.  This is where the discovery becomes important for cosmic evolution: black holes with jets are thought to be able to grow considerably more quickly than without jets. more

A close-up of a star dominates the left side of the image. Its surface glows intensely in various shades of orange, showing irregular structures like darker spots. Delicate, glowing plasma filaments arc outward from the Sun's surface. On the right side of the image, a small rocky planet is visible, its reddish-brown surface marked with dark, mottled patterns. The background is black, dotted with a few white star-like points.

Does the exoplanet Trappist-1 b have an atmosphere after all?

December 16, 2024

New observations reveal the challenges of detecting planetary atmospheres. more

The Consolidator Grantees of the MPG 2024 (from left to right): Marcel Böhme, Mario Flock, Manuel Gomez Rodriguez, Mariana Rossi, Birgit Stiller, Henning Fenselau, Duarte Figueiredo, Valerie Hilgers, Andrea Martin.

Nine ERC Consolidator Grants for Max-Planck

December 06, 2024

In a European comparison, the MPG is in second place more

An artistic representation of a protoplanetary disk showing a ring-like accumulation of gas and dust. The disk is arranged around a central, bright object, presumably a young star. From the center of the disk, two opposite conical streams of glowing gas are visible, representing bipolar gas outflows. The image is rendered in purple, green, and yellow tones, highlighting the structures and movement of the material.

Winds of change: James Webb Space Telescope reveals elusive details in young star systems

October 04, 2024

Nested morphology of gas streams confirms a mechanism that helps infant stars to grow by ingesting disk material. more

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