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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

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

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

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

A new laboratory experiment uses a water tornado to investigate key physical processes in protoplanetary discs. more