The Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (abbreviation: MPS; German: Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung) is a research institute in astronomy and astrophysics located in Göttingen, Germany, where it relocated in February 2014 from the nearby village of Lindau. The exploration of the Solar System is the central theme for research done at this institute.
MPS is a part of the Max Planck Society, which operates 80 research facilities in Germany.
Research
MPS is organised in three departments: Sun and Heliosphere, Planets and Comets, and Solar and Stellar Interiors. In addition, since 2002 there is also an International Max Planck Research School. Subjects of research at the institute are the various objects within the Solar System. A major area of study concerns the Sun, its atmosphere, the interplanetary medium as influenced by the solar wind, as well as the impact of solar particles and radiation on the planets. The second area of research involves the interiors, surfaces, atmospheres, ionospheres, and magnetospheres of the planets and their moons, as well as of comets and asteroids. A further essential part of the activities at the institute is the development and construction of instruments for space missions. The analysis and interpretation of the acquired datasets are accompanied by intensive theoretical work. Physical models are proposed and then tested and further developed with the aid of computer simulations.
The Sun and heliosphere The researchers at the MPS are studying the complete range of dynamic and often spectacular processes occurring on the Sun – from the interior to the outer heliosphere. At the heart of this research is the magnetic field, which plays a decisive role in these processes. It is generated by gas currents in the interior of the Sun and causes, among other things, dark spots on the surface. Answers to the following questions are being sought: Why does the magnetic field change with an eleven-year cycle? How does the magnetic field produce the various structures on the Sun? How is the corona heated to many millions of degrees? Instruments developed by MPS aboard the space- craft SOHO and Ulysses have provided fundamentally new insights: Measurements of the ultraviolet spectrometer SUMER on board SOHO played a decisive role in recognizing the significance of the magnetic field for dynamic processes and Ulysses measured the three-dimensional structure of the solar wind for the first time. Another important research topic at "The Sun and Heliosphere" department is the influence on the Earth due to the Sun's variable activity. Scientists are working intensively on the project STEREO, in which two identical spacecraft trace disturbances from the Sun to the Earth from different observational points, permitting predictions of potentially dangerous events. The physical processes involved in the origin and development of magnetic fields on the Sun take place on very small scales and therefore require measurements with very high spatial resolution. The balloon-borne telescope Sunrise, built under Institute leadership and flown in June 2009, was able to make out structures on the Sun's surface as small as 100 kilometers. Future projects will stress research into the physical causes of the Sun's variations. The ambitious Solar Orbiter Mission, based on a suggestion from the institute, will see a probe approach our star to within a fifth of the Earth-Sun distance in order to investigate the magnetic field and its effects in the various layers of the solar atmosphere.
Planets and comets The institute develops scientific instruments that fly with spacecraft to other planets. Highly specialized cameras have investigated the Saturn moon Titan, analyse the surface of Mars, and probe the clouds and winds of Venus. Microwave instruments determine the composition of atmospheres while infrared spectrometers examine surface rocks. A novel laser altimeter on board BepiColombo will survey the topography of Mercury to within a meter. Further MPS instruments identify the atoms, electrons, and dust that move around the planets and impact their moons. Here the influence of the solar wind on the atmospheric gases is of particular interest. Theoretical studies and intensive computer simulations help to understand the processes both inside and surrounding the planets and to interpret the measured data. Models developed at MPS can describe, for example, interactions with the solar wind, the atmospheric dynamics, or the generation of the terrestrial magnetic field by means of currents deep in the iron core of our planet. In addition, the institute has along tradition in cometary research. A major highlight was the camera developed at the institute for the ESA spacecraft Giotto which delivered the first photographs ever of a comet's nucleus in 1986. A particular challenge was the development of numerous scientific instruments for the ESA Mission Rosetta, such as cameras, chemical analyzers, and essential components for the landing module Philae. Rosetta was launched in 2004, and matched orbits with the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014; a few months later, Philae landed on the comet's surface. The institute has also provided the cameras for the NASA Dawn Mission, launched in 2007, to study two of the largest asteroids, Ceres and Vesta.
Helio- and Asteroseismology The MPS is hosting the German Data Centre for the NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which has provided improved data on small scales of space and time to study the connections between the solar interior and magnetic activity in the solar atmosphere. A particularly exciting research activity at the MPS is the study of seismic waves in the vicinity of sunspots. The goal is to probe the subsurface structure of sunspots in three dimensions. Sunspot helioseismology is a challenging science as it requires modelling of the propagation of waves through magnetic structures; this can only be achieved by numerical simulations.
Scientific projects The institute has led, or been involved with, several international scientific projects such as: Solar Orbiter, SDO, Sunrise, STEREO, SOHO, Ulysses, BepiColombo, Exomars, Chandrayaan, Phoenix, Herschel, Dawn, Venus Express, SMART-1, SOFIA, Rosetta, Mars Express, Mars DFG, Cassini, Cluster, Helios, Galileo and Giotto. These contributions consist developing of the instruments and/or scientific research activities.
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