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Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research

The research focus of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research is our cosmic neighborhood: the solar system with its planets and moons, comets and asteroids as well as the sun. The aim of the scientists is to describe the processes in the solar system in models and to simulate them on the computer. In addition, instruments are being developed and built to study these bodies from space. The Institute is involved in numerous space missions.

Solar Orbiter Soars past Earth

After its first orbits around the Sun, ESA's Solar Orbiter spacecraft returns to within just 460 kilometers of Earth next Saturday, November 27. The flyby will change the spacecraft's trajectory and velocity allowing Solar Orbiter to fly within a distance of only 50 million kilometers of the Sun during its next orbit. The maneuver also marks an important mission milestone: the commissioning of the scientific instruments is complete; now the regular measurement routine begins.

A New Encounter with Rosetta's Comet

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has reached its closest point to the Sun for the first time since the end of the Rosetta mission and is currently very close to Earth. In this interview, MPS scientists Dr. Holger Sierks and Dr. Carsten Güttler talk about a return to the Rosetta comet, comet simulations in the lab and calibrating 70,000 images.

Sunrise III:
Hang Test in Göttingen

The solar observatory Sunrise III, which will observe the Sun from a helium balloon at an altitude of 35 kilometers, has reached an important milestone: today scientists and engineers at MPS in Germany performed measurements with sunlight for the first time. For the so-called hang test, the huge gate of the MPS balloon hall opened to allow the observatory to look directly into the Sun.

Picture Gallery:
Preparing for the 3rd Flight of Sunrise

In the clean rooms at MPS, the balloon-borne solar observatory Sunrise III is gradually taking shape. Launch is planned for the summer of 2022. Sunrise III will look at the Sun from the stratosphere with the help of a 1-meter telescope and three scientific instruments.

Research Departments

Sun and Heliosphere

The focus of this department is the solar interior, the solar atmosphere, the solar magnetic field, the heliosphere, and the interplanetary medium, as well as solar radiation and solar energetic particles. The balloon-mission Sunrise, a balloon-borne solar observatory, is managed by this department. The mission investigates our central star from a height of about 35 km. In addition to several other participations in space missions, the department significantly contributes to the ESA's Solar Orbiter.

Planets and Comets

This department investigates the interior, the surfaces, atmospheres, ionospheres, and magnetospheres of planets and their moons, as well as comets and asteroids. The department currently contributes or has contributed to important space missions such as the ESA's missions JUICE to the Jovian system, BepiColombo to Mercury and Rosetta to comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko as well as NASA's missions InSight to Mars and Dawn to the asteroid belt.

Solar and Stellar Interiors

Helioseismology and asteroseismology are tools that use the oscillations of the Sun and stars to probe their interior structure and dynamics. This allows us to test and refine the theory of stellar structure and evolution, thereby bringing us closer to understanding solar and stellar magnetism. The department hosts the German Data Center for NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, and is preparing to host the data center of ESA's exoplanet hunting mission, PLATO.

International Office

On the pages of the International Office, new employees and guests will find information for their stay in Göttingen and at the institute.

IMPRS

PhD programme: International Max Planck Research School for Solar System Science at the University of Göttingen.

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