Key milestone reached in the construction of the Relay Optics Bench for ELT-MICADO

A few days ago, the optical bench of the Relay Optics was completed as a central component for the high-tech instrument MICADO. This is an important milestone, as MICADO is one of only four large measuring instruments with which the world's largest telescope for the visible and infrared wavelength range currently under construction - the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) - will commence scientific operations in the course of this decade. more

Nineteen Webb images of face-on spiral galaxies are combined in a mosaic. Some appear within squares, and others horizontal or vertical rectangles. Many galaxies have blue hazes toward the centres, and all have orange spiral arms. Many have clear bar shaped-structures at their centres, but a few have spirals that begin at their cores. Some of the galaxies’ arms form clear spiral shapes, while others are more irregular. Some of the galaxies’ arms appear to rotate clockwise and others counter clockwise. Most galaxy cores are centred, but a few appear toward an image’s edge. Most galaxies appear to extend beyond the captured observations. The galaxies shown, listed in alphabetical order, are IC 5332, NGC 628, NGC 1087, NGC1300, NGC 1365, NGC 1385, NGC 1433, NGC 1512, NGC 1566, NGC 1672, NGC 2835, NGC 3351, NGC 3627, NGC 4254, NGC 4303, NGC 4321, NGC 4535, NGC 5068, and NGC 7496.

The scientific collaboration PHANGS today released stunning pictures of 19 nearby galaxies taken with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). more

Professor Dr. Josef Solf (1934-2023)

On December 31, 2023, Josef Solf passed away at his last place of work in Jena. He had previously worked at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg for 25 years. Here, Josef Solf made a decisive contribution to the establishment of the Calar Alto Observatory.
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JWST’s MIRI Team receives prestigious award from the Royal Astronomical Society

The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) in the United Kingdom (UK) announced today that the prestigious Group Achievement Award has been granted to the international Mid InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) team in honour of their work on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) has played a major role in this great success through its many significant contributions. more

Ernst Patzer Prizes 2023 awarded

In keeping with tradition, three scientists were once again awarded the Ernst Patzer Prize for the support of young scientists this year. Mohammadreza Ayromlou, Emily Hunt (both from the ZAH Heidelberg) and Giulia Perotti (MPIA) were honored at the award ceremony on November 24 as part of a festive colloquium at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA). more

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