Institute, founded 1967
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA)
The Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg builds instruments for the VLT, ELT, JWST, Euclid and Roman. It will supply hardware for NASA's PRIMA.
- Location
- Konigstuhl, Heidelberg, Baden-Wurttemberg
- Focus
- Exoplanets, Stars, Galaxies, Cosmology, Astrobiology, Telescopes and missions
- Coordinates
- 49.396, 8.724
The Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) sits on the Konigstuhl above Heidelberg, Germany. It was founded in 1967, with Hans Elsasser as founding director from 1968. MPIA combines research with instrument building: much of the hardware on Europe’s biggest telescopes and on recent space missions passed through its labs. Since 2005 it has operated the Large Binocular Telescope, two 8.4-meter mirrors on Mount Graham, Arizona, with German, Italian and US partners.
Flagship instruments and projects
- VLT: helped build GRAVITY and MATISSE for ESO’s Very Large Telescope.
- ELT: building MICADO and METIS for the Extremely Large Telescope.
- Space: hardware for JWST and Euclid, and technology for the Roman Space Telescope, launched in August 2026.
- Research departments: Planet Formation and Exoplanets; Galaxies and Cosmology; Atmospheric Physics of Exoplanets.
Recent results
The Large Binocular Telescope produced one of 2026’s precision results: the most precise measurement of primordial helium, matching Big Bang predictions to 0.5%. GRAVITY, which MPIA helped build, found S301, the fastest known star in the Milky Way, in 2026. In September 2026 NASA selected PRIMA, a far-infrared telescope, as the first mission in its new Probe class, and MPIA will provide crucial hardware.
What to watch, 2026-2030
- 2026-2033: PRIMA in preliminary design (Phase B), with launch targeted for 2033.
- December 2030: scientific first light of the ELT, carrying MPIA-built METIS and MICADO.
Why scientists are converging here
Exoplanet atmospheres are one of the fastest-rising subjects in astronomy, and MPIA has an entire department for them. In our Research Pulse count, “exoplanet atmosphere” appeared in 75 astro-ph abstracts from April to September 2026, up 39% on the previous six months, a proxy for attention rather than results. An institute that both builds the instruments and uses them is well placed for the ELT era.
