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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 stellar, solar and exoplanetary physics, extragalactic astrophysics and the development of research technologies in the fields of spectroscopy, robotic telescopes and E-science.

XXTri_image
Katja Poppenhäger
Beobachtungsabende_2024_Ankuendigung_Kreis
Man in white coat looks through telescope

Unveiling the Uncharted Milky Way: Completing the Galactic Stellar Map

By peering into the cosmic dance of stars, a team led by researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) has unravelled the complex structure of our Milky Way galaxy. Assuming that each observed star represents a larger population of stars sharing the same orbit, they have reconstructed the properties of these “hidden” stars, filling in gaps in the Galactic disc that holds the secrets of our Galaxy's past, present, and future.

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A star’s surface revealed: 16-year study shows chaotic dynamo

The STELLA observatory in Tenerife studied a star’s surface for 16 years. Unlike the cyclic spots on our sun, this star exhibited chaotic, non-periodic star spot behavior, revealing a fundamentally different dynamo mechanism. The groundbreaking study has now been published in Nature Communications.

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ERC Consolidator Grant for Exoplanet Research

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded a grant of 2 million euros to the “Evaporator” project led by Professor Katja Poppenhäger.

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Public observation evenings in the Great Refractor in Potsdam starting at 15.11.

Over the winter months, the historic telescope now opens its dome again for public observation evenings. On six dates between November 2024 and April 2025 anyone who is interested will have the opportunity to take a look through the world's fourth-largest refracting telescope.

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Call for nominations and applications for the Johann Wempe Award 2025

In honour of Prof. Dr. Johann Wempe (1906 – 1980), the last director of the former Astrophysical Observatory of Potsdam (AOP), the AIP grants the Johann Wempe Award to outstanding scientists. Applications and nominations are accepted until 31st January 2025.

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Latest News
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Virtual lecture: Babelsberg Starry Night on 16th January 2025
Jan. 14, 2025

The next talk of the Virtual Babelsberg Starry Nights of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) on the topic "Searching for the X-ray emitters in the Universe" (German) by Dr. Iris Traulsen will be broadcast on the YouTube channel “Urknall, Weltall und das Leben” (Big Bang, Universe and Life) from Thursday, 16thJanuary 2025.

[more]
thin blue line horizontally in the centre of the picture, golden thickening in the middle; various curved lines with a small dot at the end

Unveiling the Uncharted Milky Way: Completing the Galactic Stellar Map
Dec. 19, 2024

By peering into the cosmic dance of stars, a team led by researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) has unravelled the complex structure of our Milky Way galaxy. Assuming that each observed star represents a larger population of stars sharing the same orbit, they have reconstructed the properties of these “hidden” stars, filling in gaps in the Galactic disc that holds the secrets of our Galaxy's past, present, and future.

[more]
xmm20_artist_cut

XMM-Newton anniversary: 25 years X-rays from space
Dec. 10, 2024

On 10 December 1999, the European Space Agency's X-ray satellite XMM-Newton began its journey to investigate X-ray sources in the universe. The Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) has been involved for three decades with software development and data analysis.

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Have you heard?

The Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) has suspended communication on its X account (formerly Twitter). The decision reflects concerns about the current direction of the platform, which is seen as inconsistent with our values like openness, scientific integrity, transparency and democratic discourse. AIP will continue to share news via its website and other social media platforms, such as Mastodon and Bluesky.

Latest Publications

S5: New insights from deep spectroscopic observations of the tidal tails of the globular clusters NGC 1261 and NGC 1904

Awad, P., ... Cullinane, L. R., ...
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 693, A69 – Published January 2025
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202451930, NASA ADS

eRO-ExTra: eROSITA extragalactic non-AGN X-ray transients and variables in eRASS1 and eRASS2

Grotova, I., ... Tubín-Arenas, D., Homan, D., Krumpe, M., ... Bahic, S., ...
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 693, A62 – Published January 2025
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202451253, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: X-ray Astronomy

Dwarf galaxies in the MATLAS survey: The satellite system of NGC 474 under scrutiny with MUSE

Müller, O., ... Pawlowski, M. S., ...
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 693, A44 – Published January 2025
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202450143, NASA ADS

The Rotation Properties of δ Sct and γ Dor Stars

Wang, J., Chen, X., Deng, L., Zhang, J., Sun, W.
The Astrophysical Journal, 978, 1, 53 – Published January 2025
doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad93b3, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Milky Way and the Local Volume

Radial Velocity and Astrometric Evidence for a Close Companion to Betelgeuse

MacLeod, M., ... Granzer, T., ... Strassmeier, K. G., ... Weber, M.
The Astrophysical Journal, 978, 1, 50 – Published January 2025
doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad93c8, NASA ADS

The e-TidalGCs project: Modeling the extra-tidal features generated by Galactic globular clusters (Corrigendum)

Ferrone, S., ... Khoperskov, S., ...
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 693, C2 – Published January 2025
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202348837e, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Milky Way and the Local Volume

The GAPS Programme at TNG: LXV. Precise density measurement of TOI-1430 b, a young planet with an evaporating atmosphere

Nardiello, D., ... Mallonn, M., ...
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 693, A32 – Published January 2025
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202452236, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Stellar Physics and Exoplanets

IFUM integrated field spectroscopy of ten M104 satellite galaxy candidates

Crosby, E., ... Pawlowski, M. S.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 536, 3, 2072 – Published January 2025
doi:10.1093/mnras/stae2680, NASA ADS

Energy Dissipation in Strong Collisionless Shocks: The Crucial Role of Ion-to-electron Scale Separation in Particle-in-cell Simulations

Shalaby, M.
The Astrophysical Journal, 977, 2, L43 – Published December 2024
doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ad99d8, NASA ADS

Long-term Doppler imaging of the star XX Trianguli indicates chaotic non-periodic dynamo

Strassmeier, K. G., Kővári, Z., Weber, M., Granzer, T.
Nature Communications, 15, 1, 9986 – Published December 2024
doi:10.1038/s41467-024-54329-4, NASA ADS

Jet Interaction with Galaxy Cluster Mergers

Domínguez-Fernández, P., ... Weinberger, R., ...
The Astrophysical Journal, 977, 2, 221 – Published December 2024
doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad9028, NASA ADS

Exploring the Diversity of Faint Satellites in the M81 Group

Gozman, K., ... de Jong, R. S., ...
The Astrophysical Journal, 977, 2, 179 – Published December 2024
doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad8c3a, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Milky Way and the Local Volume

Erratum: "The Low-redshift Lyman Continuum Survey. I. New, Diverse Local Lyman Continuum Emitters" (2022, ApJS, 260, 1)

Flury, S. R., ... Micheva, G., ...
The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 275, 2, 47 – Published December 2024
doi:10.3847/1538-4365/ad7bb9, NASA ADS

The Second Case of a Major Merger Triggering a Starburst in a Green Pea Galaxy

Purkayastha, S., ... Pharo, J., ...
The Astrophysical Journal, 977, 1, 68 – Published December 2024
doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad8dd2, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Galaxies and Quasars

Galaxy formation and symbiotic evolution with the inter-galactic medium in the age of ELT-ANDES

D'Odorico, V., ... Richter, P., ...
Experimental Astronomy, 58, 3, 21 – Published December 2024
doi:10.1007/s10686-024-09967-3, NASA ADS

Partial alignment between jets and megamasers: Coherent versus selective accretion

Dotti, M., ... Bollati, F., ...
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 692, A233 – Published December 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202450112, NASA ADS

Simulating the LOcal Web (SLOW): III. Synchrotron emission from the local cosmic web

Böss, L. M., ... Sorce, J. G.
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 692, A232 – Published December 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202348339, NASA ADS

Large-scale stellar age-velocity spiral pattern in NGC 4030

Breda, I., ... Pessa, I., ... Krajnović, D., ...
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 692, L10 – Published December 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202452595, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Galaxies and Quasars

Gas thermodynamics meets galaxy kinematics: Joint mass measurements for eROSITA galaxy clusters

Li, P., ... Júlio, M. P., Pawlowski, M. S., ... Schwope, A., ...
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 692, A253 – Published December 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202451266, NASA ADS

Revisiting the CMB large-scale anomalies: The impact of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich signal from the Local Universe

Jung, G., ... Sorce, J. G., ...
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 692, A180 – Published December 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202451238, NASA ADS

Detection of faculae in the transit and transmission spectrum of WASP-69b

Petit dit de la Roche, D. J. M., ... Pietrow, A. G. M., ...
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 692, A83 – Published December 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202451740, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Solar Physics

Equilibrium dynamical models in the inner region of the Large Magellanic Cloud based on Gaia DR3 kinematics

Kacharov, N., ... Cioni, M.-R. L., ... Khoperskov, S.
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 692, A40 – Published December 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202451578, NASA ADS

The disc origin of the Milky Way bulge: The high velocity dispersion of metal-rich stars at low latitudes

Boin, T., ... Khoperskov, S., ...
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 692, A13 – Published December 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202451486, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Milky Way and the Local Volume

oMEGACat. IV. Constraining the Ages of Omega Centauri Subgiant Branch Stars with HST and MUSE

Clontz, C., ... Kacharov, N., ...
The Astrophysical Journal, 977, 1, 14 – Published December 2024
doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad8621, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Milky Way and the Local Volume

Detecting and sizing the Earth with PLATO: A feasibility study based on solar data

Krenn, A. F., ... Hofmeister, S. J., ...
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 692, A17 – Published December 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202450681, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Solar Physics

DIAmante TESS AutoRegressive Planet Search (DTARPS). III. Understanding the DTARPS-S Candidate Transiting Planet Catalogs

Melton, E. J., ... Rosenswie, A. W., ...
The Astronomical Journal, 168, 6, 271 – Published December 2024
doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ad8355, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Stellar Activity

WEAVE First Light Observations: Origin and Dynamics of the Shock Front in Stephan's Quintet

Arnaudova, M. I., ... Couto, G. S., ...
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 535, 3, 2269 – Published December 2024
doi:10.1093/mnras/stae2235, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Galaxies and Quasars

PEPSI's non-detection of escaping hydrogen and metal lines adds to the enigma of WASP-12 b

Pai Asnodkar, A., ... Ilyin, I., Strassmeier, K. G., ...
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 535, 2, 1829 – Published December 2024
doi:10.1093/mnras/stae2441, NASA ADS

Stellar surface information from the Ca II H&K lines - II. Defining better activity proxies

Cretignier, M., ... Pietrow, A. G. M., ...
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 535, 3, 2562 – Published December 2024
doi:10.1093/mnras/stae2508, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Solar Physics

Identification of basins of attraction in the local Universe

Valade, A., Libeskind, N. I., ... Pfeifer, S., ...
Nature Astronomy, 8, 1610 – Published December 2024
doi:10.1038/s41550-024-02370-0, NASA ADS

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

 

Events and dates at AIP

Observation evening at the Great Refractor
09.01.2025, 19:00 – 20:00
Public Event

The AIP invites to a public observation evening in the Great Refractor at the Telegrafenberg in Potsdam.

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Hauskolloquium - Moorits Muru
16.01.2025, 14:30 – 15:30
Scientific
[more]

Virtual Babelsberg Starry Night
16.01.2025, 20:00 – 21:00
Public Event

Talk (in German): Auf der Suche nach den Röntgenstrahlern im All (Iris Traulen)

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External Colloquium | Gherardo Valori (MPS Göttingen)
23.01.2025, 14:00 – 16:00
Scientific

The Solar Orbiter Mission and the SO/PHI instrument: new opportunities for novel science

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Hauskolloquium - Ismael Pessa
13.02.2025, 14:30 – 15:30
Scientific
[more]

Observation evening at the Great Refractor
14.02.2025, 19:00 – 20:00
Public Event

The AIP invites to a public observation evening in the Great Refractor at the Telegrafenberg in Potsdam.

[more]

External Colloquium | Anna Miotello (ESO Garching)
20.02.2025, 14:00 – 16:00
Scientific

TBD

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Public Event
Scientific
Internal Event
Holidays

Conferences
Magneto-Convection.jpg

19th MHD Days 2024
Dec. 2, 2024 – Dec. 4, 2024
[Website]
Bows and bubbles that are caused by stellar feedback and galactic winds

The role of feedback in galaxy formation: from small-scale winds to galactic outflows
18th Potsdam Thinkshop
July 14, 2025 – July 18, 2025
[Website]