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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 cosmic magnetic fields, extragalactic astrophysics and the development of research technologies in the fields of spectroscopy, robotic telescopes and E-science.

Stars of different colours with a black, dashed circle in the centre
Golden coloured chip
MUSE Ultra Deep Field
Sun-magnetic_field_lines
Thailand

First medium-sized black hole discovered in the centre of Omega Centauri

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 discovery also confirms that Omega Centauri is the core of a dwarf galaxy that was swallowed up by the Milky Way billions of years ago. The study was published in the journal Nature.

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EU funding of 3,4 million euros for the PICS4SENS project

The joint project PICS4SENS by the Leibniz Institutes AIP and IHP in cooperation with the innoFSPEC transfer laboratory at the University of Potsdam won the competition in last year's StaF call for proposals and will be funded over a period of four years with a total of 3,4 million euros, 2.2 million euros of which will go to the AIP.

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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.

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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.

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Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn visits the AIP

On 2nd July, the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) had the honor of welcoming Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand and her delegation to the Babelsberg campus.

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Latest News
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]
In the background a big table with different devices and cables, in the foreground a hand holds a small chip, which is about 2-3 fingers wide

EU funding of 3,4 million euros for the PICS4SENS project
July 9, 2024

The joint project PICS4SENS by the Leibniz Institutes AIP and IHP in cooperation with the innoFSPEC transfer laboratory at the University of Potsdam will be funded over a period of four years with a total of 3,4 million euros, 2.2 million euros of which will go to the AIP.

[more]
Thailand

Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn visits the AIP
July 3, 2024

Yesterday, the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) had the honor of welcoming Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand and her delegation to the Babelsberg campus. The aim of the visit was to discuss possible collaboration areas between the AIP and the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT) and to promote possible joint research projects.

[more]
 

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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

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

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

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

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

Archives of Photographic PLates for Astronomical USE (APPLAUSE). Digitisation of astronomical plates and their integration into the International Virtual Observatory

Enke, H., Tuvikene, T., Groote, D., Edelmann, H., Heber, U.
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 687, A165 – Published July 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202348793, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Supercomputing and E-Science

Chronology of our Galaxy from Gaia colour-magnitude diagram fitting (ChronoGal). I. The formation and evolution of the thin disc from the Gaia Catalogue of Nearby Stars

Gallart, C., ... Chiappini, C., ...
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 687, A168 – Published July 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202349078, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Milky Way and the Local Volume

The corona of a fully convective star with a near-polar flare

Ilin, E., Poppenhäger, K., Stelzer, B., Dsouza, D.
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 687, A138 – Published July 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202449541, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Stellar Physics and Exoplanets

Ionised AGN outflows in the Goldfish galaxy: The illuminating and interacting red quasar eFEDSJ091157.4+014327 at z ∼ 0.6

Musiimenta, B., ... Urrutia, T., ...
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 687, A111 – Published July 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202449283, NASA ADS

The solar cycle 25 multi-spacecraft solar energetic particle event catalog of the SERPENTINE project

Dresing, N., ... Warmuth, A., Schuller, F., ...
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 687, A72 – Published July 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202449831, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Solar Physics

Distortions of the Hubble diagram: Line-of-sight signatures of local galaxy clusters

Sorce, J. G., Mohayaee, R., Aghanim, N., Dolag, K., Malavasi, N.
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 687, A85 – Published July 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202349073, NASA ADS

Characterisation of the X-ray point source variability in the eROSITA south ecliptic pole field

Bogensberger, D., ... Krumpe, M.
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 687, A37 – Published July 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202449415, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: X-ray Astronomy

Observational Predictions for the Survival of Atomic Hydrogen in Simulated Fornax-like Galaxy Clusters

Chaturvedi, A. et al.
The Astrophysical Journal, 969, 1, 28 – Published July 2024
doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad43dd, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Galaxies and Quasars

Galaxy Spectra neural Network (GaSNet). II. Using deep learning for spectral classification and redshift predictions

Zhong, F., ... Guiglion, G., ...
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 532, 1, 643 – Published July 2024
doi:10.1093/mnras/stae1461, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Milky Way and the Local Volume

New quasars behind the Magellanic Clouds. II. Spectroscopic confirmation of 136 near-infrared selected candidates

Ivanov, V. D., Cioni, M.-R. L., ...
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 687, A16 – Published July 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202346504, NASA ADS

LMC stars and where to find them: inferring birth radii for external galaxies

Lu, Y., ... Ratcliffe, B., Minchev, I., ...
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 532, 1, 411 – Published July 2024
doi:10.1093/mnras/stae1509, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Milky Way and the Local Volume

UVIT Study of the MAgellanic Clouds (U-SMAC) - I. Recent star formation history and kinematics of the Shell region in the north-eastern Small Magellanic Cloud

Hota, S., Subramaniam, A., Dhanush, S. R., Cioni, M.-R. L., Subramanian, S.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 532, 1, 322 – Published July 2024
doi:10.1093/mnras/stae1438, NASA ADS

Introducing the BRAHMA simulation suite: signatures of low-mass black hole seeding models in cosmological simulations

Bhowmick, A. K., ... Weinberger, R., ...
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 531, 4, 4311 – Published July 2024
doi:10.1093/mnras/stae1386, NASA ADS

Surveying the Onset and Evolution of Supermassive Black Holes at High-z with AXIS

Cappelluti, N., ... Powell, M., ...
Universe, 10, 7, 276 – Published June 2024
doi:10.3390/universe10070276, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Galaxies and Quasars

On the Determining Physical Factor of Jet-related Coronal Mass Ejections' Morphology in the High Corona

Duan, Y., Shen, Y., Tang, Z., Zhou, C., Tan, S.
The Astrophysical Journal, 968, 2, 110 – Published June 2024
doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad445c, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Solar Physics

Broad and Bidirectional Narrow Quasiperiodic Fast-propagating Wave Trains Associated with a Filament-driven Halo Coronal Mass Ejection on 2023 April 21

Zhou, X., ... Tan, S., ...
The Astrophysical Journal, 968, 2, 85 – Published June 2024
doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad4456, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Solar Physics

The Basic Iterative Deconvolution: A Fast Instrumental Point-Spread Function Deconvolution Method That Corrects for Light That Is Scattered Out of the Field of View of a Detector

Hofmeister, S. J.
Solar Physics, 299, 6, 77 – Published June 2024
doi:10.1007/s11207-024-02321-y, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Solar Physics

MINCE. II. Neutron capture elements

François, P., ... Steffen, M., ... Gallagher, A. J., ... Valentini, M.
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 686, A295 – Published June 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202449539, NASA ADS

A too-many dwarf satellite galaxies problem in the MATLAS low-to-moderate density fields

Kanehisa, K. J., Pawlowski, M. S., Heesters, N., Müller, O.
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 686, A280 – Published June 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202348242, NASA ADS

A MUSE view of the core of the giant low-surface-brightness galaxy Malin 1

Johnston, E. J., ... Weilbacher, P. M.
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 686, A247 – Published June 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202348587, NASA ADS

Long-period oscillations in the lower solar atmosphere prior to flare events

Wiśniewska, A., Korsós, M. B., Kontogiannis, I., Soós, S., Erdélyi, R.
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 686, A224 – Published June 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202348606, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Solar Physics

A universal method for solar filament detection from Hα observations using semi-supervised deep learning

Diercke, A., ... Kuckein, C., ... Denker, C., ...
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 686, A213 – Published June 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202348314, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Solar Physics

Generation of relativistic electrons at the termination shock in the solar flare region

Mann, G., Veronig, A. M., Schuller, F.
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 686, A207 – Published June 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202449162, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Solar Physics

The SRG/eROSITA All-Sky Survey. Tracing the large-scale structure with a clustering study of galaxy clusters

Seppi, R., ... Krumpe, M.
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 686, A196 – Published June 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202348843, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: X-ray Astronomy

The dependence of the magnetism of a near-limb sunspot on height

Benko, M., Balthasar, H., Gömöry, P., Kuckein, C., González Manrique, S. J.
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 686, A194 – Published June 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202348617, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: Solar Physics

Discovery of the magnetic cataclysmic variable XMM J152737.4-205305.9 with a deep eclipse-like feature

Ok, S., Schwope, A., Buckley, D. A. H., Brink, J.
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 686, A175 – Published June 2024
doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202449511, NASA ADS
AIP sections/groups: X-ray Astronomy

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

 

Events and dates at AIP

Colloquium: E. Spitoni (Trieste)
04.07.2024, 14:00 – 16:00
Scientific
[more]

Virtual Babelsberg Starry Night
18.07.2024, 20:00 – 21:00
Public Event

Talk (in German): Neues aus der Sonnenumgebung - Braune Zwerge (Ralf-Dieter Scholz)

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Public Event
Scientific
Internal Event
Holidays