News

Person in dark clothing with crossed arms, casting shadow on wall: the Ugandan astronomer Geoffrey Andama.

“The best science thrives in community”

February 10, 2026

Geoffrey Andama was a mentee in the first round of the ARTEMIS program in 2023. Since September 2025, he has headed the Max Planck-Humboldt Research Unit at Muni University in Uganda. The new unit is dedicated to developing astrophysics and astronomy across Africa. In this interview, Andama talks about his path into science, the role of mentoring, and his vision for astronomy on the continent. more

Scientific visualisation of a collection of debris discs around stars, shown in many individual views and different orientations. The image shows ring-shaped and disc-like dust structures, some seen face-on as bright rings, others tilted or edge-on as elongated, spindle-shaped features. The discs display irregular brightness patterns, gaps, and asymmetric concentrations, indicating dust and rocky debris in orbit. Colours range from yellow and orange to blue, representing different visualisation methods or physical properties. All objects are arranged in a regular grid on a black background.

ALMA Reveals Teenage Years of New Worlds

January 20, 2026

New astronomical survey captures previously unknown growing pains in the lives of planets. more

Research highlights 2025

December 22, 2025

A look back at a year of research with many highlights more

Artistic depiction of a collision between two planetesimals – small celestial bodies –in the young planetary system around the star Fomalhaut. In the foreground, two dark, irregularly shaped objects crash into each other with great force. The impact site glows with bright orange cracks, and fragments of rock are ejected. In the background, a bright sun is visible, surrounded by a dusty debris disk filled with numerous small rocks. The scene illustrates a dynamic phase of planet formation, similar to what is thought to have occurred in the early Solar System.

Destruction of Infant Planets Around Nearby Star

December 18, 2025

Astronomers have repeatedly observed events near a distant star that mirror processes from the early solar system’s planet-forming era. more

ERC Consolidator Grant worth almost €2 million for Paul Mollière

December 09, 2025

Paul Mollière, leader of the independent research group on exoplanet atmospheric modeling and retrieval in Laura Kreidberg's "Astrophysics of Exoplanets" department at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) in Heidelberg has been awarded one of the highly coveted and lucrative grants from the European Research Council (ERC). His project, entitled "From photons to storms: Revealing the 3D structure of giant exoplanet atmospheres," will be funded by an ERC Consolidator Grant worth almost 2 million euros. more