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. More info.
The MPS in times of corona: Current status
The Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research takes the current risk situation due to the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 very seriously. It is the Institute's primary objective to minimize the risk of infection for its staff and to contribute in general to minimizing the spread of the virus.
Read more about current measures and restrictions here.
JUICE's sensor JEI soon to be integrated into spacecraft
The sensor JEI (Jovian Electron and Ion Sensor), which scientists and engineers at MPS developed and built for ESA's JUICE (Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer) mission to Jupiter, has reached a further milestone on its way into space. Together with other sensors of the PEP (Particle Environment Package) instrument package, JEI has now arrived safely at Airbus Defence and Space GmbH in Friedrichshafen. In the next few weeks, it will be connected to the space probe.
Tackling Brightness Variations of Stubborn Stars
The International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) for Solar System Science at the University of Göttingen has reached a milestone: With Eliana Amazo Gómez, the 200th doctoral student of the IMPRS has now defended her doctoral thesis and thus successfully completed her PhD. In her thesis, the 33-year-old Colombian scientist developed a new method of deducing the rotational period of stars from their brightness fluctuations. In this way, she was able to determine how fast hundreds of stars rotate for the first time.
A Bird's Eye View of Occator Crater
Dwarf planet Ceres’ Occator Crater is one of the most impressive geological structures in our solar system. New calculations by scientists at MPS and the University of Münster in Germany now offer the highest resolution three-dimensional reconstruction of the central depression of the Occator crater to date. With rugged slopes, circular furrows and a brilliant white central dome, the animated overflight over the inner crater area shows the whole range of geological features of this formation.