The supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, taken with the space observatory SPITZER at a wavelength of 24 microns. This infrared picture shows the emission of the warm dust contained in the supernova remnant, which owns a total mass of only 0.002 solar masses. (Picture: Oliver Krause)

See also the Press Release of December 13, 2004.

One of the primary questions under examination at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy concerns the formation and evolution of stars.