Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Bonn
The Max-Planck-Institute for Radioastronomy in Bonn (MPIfR) is the leading research institute in Germany in the areas of radio-, millimeter-/submillimeter- and infared astronomy. Theoretical astrophysics is another field of work.Main research areas:
- Physics of stars, galaxies and the universe
- star formation
- young stellar objects
- late-type stars
- pulsars
- interstellar medium of the Milky Way and external galaxies
- the galactic center and its vicinity
- magnetic fields in the universe
- radiogalaxies
- quasars and other active galaxies
- dust and gas at cosmological distances
- galaxies in the early stages of our universe
- cosmic rays and high energy particle physics
- theory of stellar evolution and active galactic nuclei
- the german-US flying obervatory SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy).
- the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX). Construction of a submillimeter telescope in the Atacama desert in Chile.
- the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA).
- the Far-Infrared and Submillimetre Telescope Satellitenobservatorium (HERSCHEL, formerly FIRST).
- the upgrade of the 100-m radiotelescope in Effelsberg.
- conceptional work on a radiotelescope with a collection surface of one square kilometer (Square Kilometer Array; SKA).
- the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) in Chile.
- the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) in Arizona.
- the advancement of very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) up to
the millimeter regime. Increasing the angular resolution by including
space telescopes.
- Processing of large data volumes collected by very long baseline interferometry (VLBI), by new generation radio telescopes like LOFAR and by the SKA (1 to many Gbit per second).
- Development of lossfree transmission protocols.
- Realtime operation of the VLBI network.