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Max-Planck-Institut
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 (Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics) |
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 MPE
Institute
 History
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| MPE History |
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Overview
Detailed History
The Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik (MPE) was
preceded by the department for extraterrestrial Physics in the
Max-Planck-Institut für Physik und Astrophysik. This department was
established by Professor Reimar Lüst on October 23, 1961.
A Max-Planck Senate resolution transformed this department into a
sub-institute of the Max-Planck-Institut für Physik und Astrophysik
on May 15, 1963. Professor Lüst was appointed Director of the
Institute. Another Senate resolution on March 8, 1991 finally established
MPE as an autonomous institute within the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. It is
dedicated to the experimental and theoretical exploration of the space
outside of earth as well as astrophysical phenomena.
(s. literature [1])
Professor Klaus Pinkau (1966) and Dr. Gerhard Haerendel (1969) were appointed scientific members at MPE. K. Pinkau then became director at MPE in 1969. Since 1972 the directorship of the Institute was shared by its directors. In the same year, Professor Lüst was elected President of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft and thus relieved of his duties as director of MPE. Professor Joachim Trümper (X-ray astronomy) accepted an appointment as scientific member and director of the Institute in 1975. In 1981 Professor Pinkau accepted an appointment as scientific director of the Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) and he was subsequently relieved of his duties at MPE. In 1984 and 1986 Professor Gregor Morfill (theory) and Professor Reinhard Genzel (infrared- and sub-mm-astronomy) were appointed scientific members and directors of the Institute. The directorial positions at MPE attained their current status with the appointment of Professor Günther Hasinger (X-ray astronomy) and Professor Ralf Bender (optical and interpretative astronomy) in the years 2001 and 2002.
Among the 29 employees of the Institute when it was founded in 1963
were 9 scientists and 1 Ph.D. student. Twelve years later in 1975
the number of employees had increased to 180 with 55 scientists
and 13 Ph.D. students. New permanent positions at the institute were
established for the last time in 1973. Indeed, despite celebrated
scientific achievements resulting from research at the Institute, permanent
positions have been reduced in recent years. In the last twenty years the
Institute has coped with increasingly complex tasks and international
obligations almost exclusively with positions having limited duration and
funded by organizations outside the Institute. In 2003 the number of
employees at the Institute had reached 267, of whom 52 were scientists
and 53 post-docs. In addition, there were 94 employees without permament
positions (84 of them scientists). During the early years the scientific work at the Institute concentrated on the investigation of extraterrestrial plasmas and the magnetosphere of the earth. This work was performed with measurements of particles and electromagnetic fields as well as a specially developed ion-cloud technique using sounding rockets.
Another field of research also became important: astrophysical observations
of electomagnetic radiation which could not be observed from the
surface of the earth because the wave lengths are such that the
radiation is absorbed by the earth's atmosphere. These observations
and inferences therefrom are the subject matter of infra-red astronomy as
well as X-ray- and gamma-ray-astronomy. In addition to more than 100
rockets, an increasing number of high-altitude balloons (up to now more
than 50; e.g. Since the 90-ies of the last century, satellites have become the preferred observation platforms because of their favorable observation-time/cost ratio. Nevertheless, high-flying observation airplanes and telescopes at high-altitude locations are also used to obtain data whenever possible.
A strong experiment-oriented theory group exists at MPE, so that the
observations and measurements from the many successful experiments
can be quickly and effectively evaluated. The intimate interaction between
theory and observation at the Institute promotes swift acquisition and
transformation of new knowledge and this leads to improved proposals for more
experiments and observations. New observation techniques using satellites has necessitated the recording, processing and accessible storage of high data fluxes over long periods of time. This demanding task is performed by a data processing group, which has grown quickly in the last decade. Special data centers were established for the large satellite projects, in particular ROSAT.
Beside the many successes, there have also been disappointments. The
malfunctioning of the Ariane carrier rockets on test launches in 1980 and
1996 were particularly bitter setbacks. The satellite
Over the years, however, the history of MPE is primarily a story of many brilliant scientific successes. A short selection is listed below :
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Literature / Institute Videos
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Last update: 2012-02-23 by
 H. SteinleContact: MPE public outreach department |
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