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.
Magnetic Avalanche on the Sun
At the end of 2024, ESA’s Solar Orbiter was lucky to witness a strong solar flare – and observed the events leading up to this firework with unprecedented precision. A new analysis of these data has now been published.
Apparently, small restructuring processes in the Sun's magnetic field build up like an avalanche – and then discharge explosively.
Kees de Jager Prize for Theodosios Chatzistergos
MPS scientist Theodosios Chatzistergos has been awarded this year's Kees de Jager Prize for the best publication of the past year in the journal Solar Physics. The prize has now been presented.
In the publication, the researcher critically reassesses a widely used reconstruction of the Sun's irradiance since 1700, updates and improves it. Unlike the original reconstruction, the modernized version shows only modest variations in the Sun’s irradiance since 1700.
ESA’s space probe Vigil to warn of solar storms
The ESA Ministerial Council has decided on the further roadmap for the Vigil space mission. The space probe is expected to detect and potentially forecast hazardous space weather from 2031 onwards.
Vigil observes the Sun from a previously unused observation position. This extends the warning time for solar storms by up to five days.
Vigil's Photospheric Field Imager (PMI) is being developed and built under the leadership of the MPS.
A Companion for Near-Earth Asteroid Apophis
On April 13, 2029, the near-Earth asteroid Apophis will fly past Earth at a distance of just under 32,000 kilometers. ESA’s Ministerial Council has decided to accompany the flyby with a space mission. Ramses will study the asteroid at close range for six months and witness it racing past Earth. The MPS is sending a particle spectrometer along for the ride.
