Date	Speaker	Topic
17.01.2020
24.01.2020
31.01.2020 (10hrs, HdA Auditorium)	Kathryn Kreckel and Tom Herbst	LVM Focal Planes The MPIA is a substantial partner in the Local Volume Mapper (LVM), one of three surveys that form SDSS-V, the fifth generation of the highly successful Sloan Digital Sky Survey. By connecting studies across a variety of physical scales, from individual star forming regions to galaxy-wide coverage, LVM will help us to understand the physics governing star formation, the structure and energetics of the interstellar medium (ISM), and ultimately, the evolution of galaxies. The survey, undertaken at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, will start in late 2021 and will cover the bulk of the Milky Way disk, the Magellanic Clouds, and a sample of Local Volume galaxies. Surveying such a wide area of sky requires a unique type of optical system, and MPIA has taken the lead role in producing the telescopes for LVM. Each of the four telescopes has a diameter of only 16 cm, making them considerably smaller and lighter than the instruments they feed. The architecture of the LVM survey presents unique challenges to telescope design. This, coupled with the need for reliable measurements over years, leads to some unconventional design choices. Presentation: English Slides: English Questions: German, English
07.02.2020 (10hrs, HdA Auditorium)	Zoltan Hubert (IPAG, University of Grenoble)	MAORY current technical development presentation In the past two years MAORY has undergone major organisational restructuring, and several major optical and mechanical redesign phases. This should end on 13-14 February 2020 during a meeting at ESO where the final baseline should be confirmed. Zoltan Hubert will present the historical background of these changes as well as the current (and hopefully final) baseline for MAORY. This is of particular interest for MPIA as we will be designing the MAORY-compatible stand-alone relay optics. Zoltan will also talk about the Laser-Guide-Star-Wavefront-Sensor (LGS-WFS) module that IPAG is developing for MAORY. Presentation: German Slides: English Questions: German, English
14.02.2020
21.02.2020 (11hrs, MPIA Hoersaal)	Dipl.-Ing. Samuel Fleiner (Antoniushof Wiesenbach)	Sustainability, Science and Art - a powerful symbiosis for our planet In the Earth Summit 1992 in Rio de Janeiro mankind made the committment to follow sustainable development goals in the future. Obviously, however, a common definition of how this might be achieved was so far not possible. Samuel J. Fleiner is the head of the Antoniushof in Wiesenbach, a center of excellence for sustainability in the Rhein-Neckar region. In his presentation he will talk about the efforts to make sustainable thinking more attractive with the help of arts, design and science. This approach provides chances for a better life, rather than for renouncement. Selected exhibits of the currently running exposition "Arte Sustemobile 2.0 - was bewegt in Zukunft" will decribe possible ways into a worth living future. Presentation: German Slides: Photos of the exhibits Questions: German, English
28.02.2020
06.03.2020
13.03.2020 postponed to summer 2020	Thomas Ruppel (SwissOptic AG)	Cancelled due to Corona: Modern fabrication of high-precision-optics - a journey along the optical manufacturing chain In many cases our society's development is driven by the progress in photonic technologies. Take for instance: Steadily shrinking semiconductor structures allow for digital systems of higher performance, modern optical surgery is key for a broad treatment of a population, which is getting older and older, and air or space borne high-performance optical components are vital for environmental surveillance with optical communication at a daily growing data rate. Prerequisites behind all these applications are typically very precise optical components like beam splitters, mirrors, lenses or polarization optics, which have to be produced in high quantity and very high quality. In the context of this talk the requirements for those components and the manufacturing steps will be presented. In some outstanding cases even exotic ideas and technologies are necessary, which will be explained by practical examples. Presentation: German Slides: English Questions: German, English
20.03.2020
27.03.2020
03.04.2020 (11hrs, Zoom Seminarroom)	Peter Bizenberger	PANIC-4k Detector Upgrade PANIC, a wide field infrared camera for the Calar Alto observatory has been commissioned in 2014 already. Four HAWAII 2RG detectors provided images of 30 arcmin in size making PANIC a very successful instrument in great demand, which could be either used at the 2.2m or the 3.5m telescope. Since meanwhile a new state-of-the-art 4k x 4k infrared detector has been developed, PANIC will be upgraded accordingly to continue using it for unique science. These modifications require two new developments at MPIA: A new readout electronics with dedicated hardware and a custom developed detector mount are prerequisites to operate this detector in a safe and effective way. The talk will describe these developments, the story behind the upgrade and all the activities for the integration and testing of those components. Furthermore, the tricky moments and lessons learned for a device which was not yet used in the worldwide astronomical community will be highlighted. Presentation: German Slides: English Questions: German, English
10.04.2020	--	Good Friday
17.04.2020	--	Easter break
24.04.2020 (11hrs, Zoom)	Christian Fendt	Astronomy for Non-Astronomers (Part 1) This lecture series is intended as further eduction for colleagues at MPIA who are NOT working as astronomers. We want to raise interest for this interesting field of research, maybe even raise enthusiasm. We will start with two 45 min talks (part 2 on May 29th) which will provide an overview over the astronomical objects. After that, depending on interest at MPIA, we may discuss topics in more depth: the solar system, stars, galaxies, exoplanets ... Prior knowledge in astronomy or physics is not required, although one should be able to understand certain diagrams, curves, or similar representations. Presentation: German ​Slides/Recording: German Questions: German, English
01.05.2020	--	Labor Day
08.05.2020
15.05.2020 (11hrs, Zoom)	Christian Fendt	Astronomy for Non-Astronomers (Part 2) This lecture series is intended as further eduction for colleagues at MPIA who are NOT working as astronomers. We want to raise interest for this interesting field of research, maybe even raise enthusiasm. Part 1 (​recording of April 24th 2020) and part 2 will provide an overview over the astronomical objects. After that, depending on interest at MPIA, we may discuss topics in more depth: the solar system, stars, galaxies, exoplanets ... For this purpose, we have already planned for two extra talks in June and July for which an extra invitation will follow. Prior knowledge in astronomy or physics is not required, although one should be able to understand certain diagrams, curves, or similar representations. External guests are cordially invited as well. Presentation: German ​Slides/Recording: German Questions: German, English
22.05.2020	--	Bridge day after Ascension Day
29.05.2020
05.06.2020	--	Pentecost break
12.06.2020	--	Pentecost break
19.06.2020 (11hrs, Zoom)	Christian Fendt	Astronomy for Non-Astronomers (Part 3) This lecture series is intended as further eduction for colleagues at MPIA who are NOT working as astronomers. We want to raise interest for this interesting field of research, maybe even raise enthusiasm. Part 1 (​recording of April 24th 2020) and part 2 (​recording of May 15th 2020) provided an overview over the astronomical objects. In this part of the lecture series we will discuss what light is, what properties it has, and how we could learn something about the properties of distant astronomical objects by observing them with telesopes and instruments. External guests are cordially invited as well. Presentation: German ​Slides/Recording: German Questions: German, English
26.06.2020
03.07.2020 (11hrs, Zoom)	Coryn Bailer-Jones	The Space Elevator Rockets are a rather ineffective way into space. In order to bring a satellite into an orbit around Earth, each ton of payload requires 50 to 100 rons of propellant (plus the rocket itself). One alternative would be a huge elevator reaching up into the orbit. In contrast to a building, which is exposed to pressure loads, due to its height such an elevator would be rather equivalent to a cable under tension. While such a construction is in principle possible, it requires materials which are currently available only in tiny amounts. Anyhow, such an elevator would allow for a much cheaper access into space. Coryn Bailer-Jones will describe the principles of such a construction, the practical challenges during its erection and how we could use it to bring spacecrafts into orbit. Presentation: German Slides: German Questions: German, English
10.07.2020
17.07.2020 (11hrs, Zoom)	Christian Fendt	Astronomy for Non-Astronomers (Part 4) This lecture series is intended as further eduction for colleagues at MPIA who are NOT working as astronomers. We want to raise interest for this interesting field of research, maybe even raise enthusiasm. Parts 1 and 2 (​recordings of April 24th and May 15th 2020) provided an overview over the astronomical objects. In this part of the lecture series, parts 3 (​recording of June 19th 2020) and 4, we will discuss what light is, what properties it has, and how we could learn something about the properties of distant astronomical objects by observing them with telesopes and instruments. External guests are cordially invited as well. Presentation: German ​Slides/Recording: German Questions: German, English
24.07.2020 (11hrs, Zoom)	Fiona Kenny (NUI Galway)	Simulating beam propagation for LISA Following from the success of LIGO and VIRGO, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will be the first dedicated gravitational wave observatory in space. To be launched in 2034, it will comprise three identical spacecraft flying in equilateral triangle formation in an Earth-lagging orbit, and acting as a heterodyne interferometer with arm-lengths on the order of Mkm. Given that gravitational waves will cause picometer-level changes to the optical path length, accurate simulation of the propagation of light between the three LISA spacecraft will be a vital tool in determining the design of the telescopes in the constellation. In this talk Fiona Kenny will explain how LISA will work and her work developing a numerical software tool to carry out this task with the requisite accuracy and speed. Similar to ground based adaptive optics, she will describe the effects that an aberrated and jittering transmitting telescope have on the wavefront error and hence science limitations at the receiving telescope. Presentation: English Slides: English Questions: German, English