Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Bonn

Radio astronomy is the main area of research. The activities of the institute encompass the whole area of astronomical observations throughout the electromagnetic spectrum. Theoretical Astrophysics is an additional research field.
To research the physics of stars, galaxies and the universe, radio astronomy looks into subjects like stellar evolution, young stellar objects, stars at a late stage of their evolution, pulsars, the interstellar medium of the Milky Way and other galaxies, magnetic fields in the universe, radio galaxies, quasars and other active galaxies, dust and gas at cosmological distances, galaxies at early stages of the evolution of the universe, cosmic ray(s), high-energy particle physics as well as the theory of stellar evolution and active galactic nuclei (AGN).

Research Departments

Fundamental Physics in Radio Astronomy (Michael Kramer)

Radio astronomical measurements allow the study of a variety of questions in fundamental physics. Those questions range from the equation-of-state of super-dense matter to the investigation of fundamental forces such as gravity and magnetism. [more]

Millimeter and Submillimeter Astronomy (Karl Menten)

The research team uses the millimetre- and sub-millimetre range of the electromagnetic spectrum to observe various phenomena in the universe. The cosmic background radiation is also being investigated, as well as molecular clouds in the Milky Way and other galaxies. [more]

Radio Astronomy / VLBI (Anton Zensus)

By employing radio-interferometry, extragalactic objects and their centres are investigated in great detail. The Very Long Base Line Interferometry (VLBI) method is applied by correlating data from telescopes distributed worldwide and using them as a “giant“ combined telescope within the framework of coordinated arrays as the the European VLBI network (EVN). In addition, global VLBI experiments are conducted in cooperation with telescopes in the USA. [more]