DGPh Science Award 2023 for the MIRI consortium presented to Thomas Henning

Prof. Dr. Thomas Henning, Director of the Planet and Star Formation Department (PSF) at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) in Heidelberg, received the Science Prize of the German Photographic Society (DGPh) on behalf of the MIRI consortium on Saturday, October 28, 2023.

With this award, the DGPh honors the outstanding scientific images of the James Webb Space-Telescope (JWST) and the associated developments in imaging technology.

The award ceremony took place during a festive DGPh event at the Museum Barberini in Potsdam. After an impressive movie about the many years of activities surrounding the James Webb Space Telescope, Roy Hessing, Chairman of the Science, Medicine and Technology Section, presented the certificate of the Science Prize 2023 for the MIRI consortium to MPIA Director Prof. Dr. Thomas Henning, the co-project leader of the European-US consortium. MIRI stands for "Mid-Infrared Instrument". It is able to take both images and spectra in the mid-infrared and is therefore one of the important research instruments of the James Webb Telescope, which also impresses the general public with its outstanding images. In addition to MIRI, the NIRSpec project was also honored. Its project manager Ralf Ehrenwinkler received the award on behalf of this other great JWST instrument.

It is important for the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie (DGPh) e.V. to promote the importance of photography and other image media in society and culture. Images play a central role in the media, in science and art and have a diverse impact on society - be it in education, business or politics.

Thomas Henning has been Director at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg since 2001, where he heads the Planet and Star Formation Department (PSF). He also leads a laboratory astrophysics group in Jena. His work focuses on the formation of massive stars, planet-forming disks, exoplanets, the interstellar medium and instrument development. In addition to his involvement in MIRI, Thomas Henning is also involved in numerous leading JWST research projects.

DGPh-Press Release (only in German)

KJ