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Aerial view of the campus of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) on the Königstuhl hill in Heidelberg. In the foreground at the lower right stands the Haus der Astronomie, a modern white building in a spiral shape with a green roof. To its left are several additional institute buildings with flat roofs, some fitted with solar panels, and a new construction site with a crane and yellow scaffolding. In the lower left, two white domes of small observatories are visible. Parking areas with cars are located in front of the buildings. The entire campus is surrounded by dense green forest. In the background stretches the Neckar valley with the city of Heidelberg, the river with bridges, and the wide Upper Rhine Plain extending to the horizon.

Onboarding Day for the new business trainees at the Heidelberg Max Planck Institutes

October 01, 2025

On the initiative of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA), an Onboarding Day for the business trainees of the Heidelberg Max Planck Institutes was held for the first time on 4 September 2025. more

Artist’s impression of a black hole star (not to scale). The cut-out reveals the central black hole with it surrounding accretion disk. What makes this a black hole star is the surrounding envelope of turbulent gas. This configuration can explain what astronomers observe in the object they are calling “The Cliff.”

“Black Hole Stars” could solve JWST riddle of overly massive early galaxies

September 12, 2025

A newly discovered distant object that astronomers have dubbed “The Cliff” could solve a riddle posed by some of the first observations of the distant universe with the James Webb Space Telescope, related to the discovery of a population of objects dubbed “little red dots.” Those objects were thought to be young galaxies, but with such considerable mass as would have been difficult to explain in current models of cosmic evolution. “The Cliff” has led to a proposal that could resolve this problem: Little red dots are not galaxies, but instead supermassive black holes that are embedded in a thick envelope of gas. The researchers call this new class of object a “black hole star.” more

ERC Starting Grant worth EUR 1.5 million for Anna de Graaff

September 08, 2025

Anna de Graaff, a researcher in Hans-Walter Rix's Galaxies and Cosmology (GC) department at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) in Heidelberg, has been awarded one of the highly prestigious and well-funded grants from the European Research Council (ERC). Her project, entitled “Early Giants in Context: How could Galaxies Grow so Rapidly in the First Billion Years?”, will be funded with €1.5 million from an ERC Starting Grant starting in the summer of 2026. more

An artist’s impression of a protoplanetary disk around the young star V883 Orionis. The disk consists of gas and dust spiralling towards the central bright star, glowing in warm yellow and orange hues. The outer regions appear cooler and more diffuse. A zoom-in inset highlights the presence of complex organic molecules, depicted as ball-and-stick molecular structures, including propionitrile, glycolonitrile, alanine, glycine, ethylene glycol, and acetonitrile. These molecules are shown floating in space, representing the chemical composition of the disk.

The evolution of life may have its origins in outer space

July 24, 2025

Astronomers find signs of complex organic molecules – precursors to sugars and amino acids – in a planet-forming disc. more

Minerva Fast Track Fellowship for Eva-Maria Ahrer

July 23, 2025

Eva-Maria Ahrer, postdoctoral researcher at the Atmospheric Physics of Exoplanets (APEx) department headed by Laura Kreidberg at MPIA in Heidelberg, has been awarded a Minerva Fast Track Fellowship by the Max Planck Society. Starting in January 2026, this will allow the scientist to establish her own research group dedicated to investigating the diversity and formation history of exoplanets. more