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.
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.
Sun: First Glimpse of Polar Magnetic Field in Motion
In March, ESA's spacecraft Solar Orbiter had its first clear view of the Sun’s south pole. A first analysis has now been published. The new study deals with the Sun’s supergranulation. These are huge cells of hot plasma covering the Sun and creating the large-scale, net-like structure of the magnetic field on its surface. Researchers have now for the first time determined their properties in the polar region. The plasma cells and along with them the magnetic field drift toward the pole - at higher speeds than expected.
Theia and Earth Were Neighbors
New research suggests that the body that collided with Earth 4.5 billion years ago, creating the Moon, originated in the inner Solar System.
In the journal Science, researchers led by MPS determine the possible composition of Theia.
The impactor’s composition allows conclusions about its place of origin. It is located in the inner Solar System, likely closer to the Sun than Earth.
