Faint galaxy around Andromeda discovered

Location of And XXXVI (marked in red) within the Pan-Andromeda Archaeological Survey (PAndAS). And XXXVI is located approximately 119 kpc in projected distance from Andromeda (M31). Credit: Sakowska et al. 2026. Original size [904 x 642, 190 KB]

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June 29, 2026 // A new ultra-faint dwarf galaxy has been discorved in the vicinity of Andromeda (M31), the Milky Way’s large neighbouring galaxy. The study suggests that the galaxy named And XXXVI is one of the faintest satellite galaxies discovered around Andromeda to date.

Ultra-faint dwarf galaxies are among the smallest and dimmest galaxies known. Formed during the earliest stages of the Universe, they are considered fossil records of the first galaxies and are thought to be dominated by dark matter. As such, they provide a unique window into galaxy formation in the early Universe and offer valuable tests of dark matter models.

“Our study suggests that And XXXVI is an extremely old galaxy, around 12.5 billion years old, and remarkably poor in heavy elements,” says Joanna Sakowska, researcher at Researchers at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC) and lead author of the study. “However, observations with space telescopes such as Hubble will be needed to determine its distance, age and chemical composition with greater precision.” The results have been published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A).

Located approximately 2.5 million light-years from Earth, the Andromeda Galaxy is the closest giant spiral galaxy to the Milky Way. Like our own galaxy, it is surrounded by numerous dwarf satellite galaxies that orbit under its gravitational influence.

"The discovery of Andromeda XXXVI offers a new perspective on the smallest galaxies in the universe. Within the framework of the standard cosmological model, the so-called Lambda Cold Dark Matter model (ΛCDM), we expect galaxies like Andromeda to be surrounded by hundreds of such small companions—yet many of them have remained hidden until now due to their low luminosity,” says Isabel Santos Santos from the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), a co-author of the study. “Each newly discovered ultra-faint dwarf galaxy helps us explore the limits of galaxy formation and put our cosmological models to the test."

“We currently know of around 40 dwarf satellite galaxies around Andromeda, of which only about 15 are classified as ultra-faint,” explains Sakowska. “Each new discovery, such as Andromeda XXXVI, is important because it suggests that we may still be seeing only the tip of the iceberg of a much larger population of extremely faint galaxies.”

Andromeda XXXVI was first identified by the astrophotographer and amateur astronomer Giuseppe Donatiello while examining images from the Pan-Andromeda Archaeological Survey (PAndAS), carried out with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). The object appeared as a faint diffuse feature in which individual stars could already be distinguished. It was subsequently included it in a list of candidate galaxies for further investigation.

The team secured Director's observing Time on the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) where they used the OSIRIS+ instrument to obtain much deeper images. These observations allowed them to distinguish individual stars within the galaxy's faint, diffuse light. However, Andromeda XXXVI proved to be an exceptionally faint object: the research team was only able to identify about 46 stars associated with it.

Source: Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP)/News

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The Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) is dedicated to astrophysical questions ranging from the study of our sun to the evolution of the cosmos. The key areas of research focus on stellar, solar and exoplanetary physics as well as extragalactic astrophysics. A considerable part of the institute's efforts aims at the development of research technology in the fields of spectroscopy, robotic telescopes, and e-science. The AIP is the successor of the Berlin Observatory founded in 1700 and of the Astrophysical Observatory of Potsdam founded in 1874. The latter was the world’s first observatory to emphasize explicitly the research area of astrophysics. The AIP has been a member of the Leibniz Association since 1992.

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Collaboration led by the German Center for Astrophysics (DZA) joins the ZTF partnership

ZTF image of the Orion nebula
Credit: Caltech Optical Observatories

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April 16, 2026 // A collaboration consisting of the German Center for Astrophysics in Goerlitz, the Leibniz-Institute for Astrophysics (AIP), Potsdam and the German Electron Synchrotron DESY is officially joining the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) partnership, expanding our scientific collaborative network in Europe and growing the team of world-class researchers and students.

The Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) is designed to scan the night sky rapidly and repeatedly to detect transient astronomical events — things that change or appear suddenly, like supernovae, variable stars, asteroids, and other cosmic phenomena. It operates at the Palomar Observatory in California, using a wide-field camera mounted on the Samuel Oschin Telescope. ZTF helps astronomers catch time variable events in the universe in near real-time, enabling quick follow-up observations and advancing our understanding of dynamic cosmic processes.

“This is exciting news. DZA is quickly attracting exceptional talent from around the world and developing cutting-edge scientific and research infrastructure. I am convinced we will build a solid and long-term partnership that will benefit astrophysics both in the USA and Europe”, says Mansi Kasliwal, a professor of astronomy at Caltech and the principal investigator of ZTF.

The German Center for Astrophysics, currently under construction, is envisioned as a new hub for scientific innovation in Lusatia, a growing region in Eastern Germany. The center aims to become a global leader in developing cutting-edge and sustainable infrastructure for scientific research in astrophysics with an initial focus on radio and multi-messenger astronomy.

Prof. Stefan Wagner from the University of Heidelberg and DZA, Prof. Matthias Steinmetz from the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), and Prof. Samaya Nissanke, lead scientist at DESY who is also a long-standing collaborator with members of the ZTF multi-messenger science group, are heading different research areas in DZA and have joined ZTF as co-investigators.

“After working closely with ZTF colleagues since 2009, in the early days of its precursor the Palomar Transient Factory, I am thrilled to be joining ZTF as an official partner. ZTF has been extraordinary across a wide range of discoveries and has quite literally led the way in the optical follow up of gravitational wave mergers over the past seven years,” says Samaya Nissanke, whose research focus is on studying black holes and neutron star mergers with gravitational waves.

”With ZTF and our well established collaboration with DZA, AIP can now expand its portfolio mainly focussed on spectroscopic surveys with a new dimension - time domain astrophysics,” adds Matthias Steinmetz of AIP.

Stefan Wagner is also interested in employing big data methods and technology to advance survey science. As partners in ZTF, he and Matthias Steinmetz will lead the transfer of the real-time pipeline from Caltech IPAC to Germany, employing the computational facilities at the TUD University of Dresden.

“Exploring the dynamic universe currently requires constant innovations in data science to enable astronomers to analyze large data streams from multiple telescopes quickly. I am looking forward to working with our colleagues at DZA to provide excellent survey data from ZTF to the astronomical community around the world”, says Matthew Graham, a co-PI of ZTF.

The DZA led collaboration is joining ZTF as a major partner with full access to ZTF's proprietary partnership data.

Source: Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP)/News

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Media contact:

Tilo Bergemann
Phone: +49 331 7499 803
presse@aip.de

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Further information

www.deutscheszentrumastrophysik.de

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The Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) is dedicated to astrophysical questions ranging from the study of our sun to the evolution of the cosmos. The key areas of research focus on stellar, solar and exoplanetary physics as well as extragalactic astrophysics. A considerable part of the institute's efforts aims at the development of research technology in the fields of spectroscopy, robotic telescopes, and e-science. The AIP is the successor of the Berlin Observatory founded in 1700 and of the Astrophysical Observatory of Potsdam founded in 1874. The latter was the world’s first observatory to emphasize explicitly the research area of astrophysics. The AIP has been a member of the Leibniz Association since 1992.

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New Leibniz ScienceCampus SCALES advances innovative modelling approaches in astrophysics and climate physics

>Overview of the physical systems studied within the Leibniz ScienceCampus SCALES focusing on astrophysical topics and topics related to climate physics and Earth system modelling.

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March 25, 2026 // With the approval of the new Leibniz ScienceCampus “Multiscale Challenges: from Astrophysics to Climate Models,” the Leibniz Association is launching an ambitious initiative to bring together leading expertise from astrophysics, climate science, and applied mathematics. At the same time, the funding marks a milestone for Brandenburg: emerging from the successful initiative of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), this establishes the first ever Leibniz ScienceCampus in the state.

The Senate of the Leibniz Association approved funding for a new Leibniz ScienceCampus, “Multiscale Challenges: from Astrophysics to Climate Models” on March 24, 2026. The Campus will be jointly funded by the participating Leibniz institutes, the Leibniz Association, the University of Potsdam, and the state of Brandenburg, with a total budget of 4.12 million euros.

Under the leadership of the AIP, the Campus is being established in close collaboration with the University of Potsdam as well as the participating Leibniz institutes — the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and the Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics. Additional partners include the Deutsche Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, and the German Center for Astrophysics. The initiative will be coordinated by Prof. Dr. Christoph Pfrommer (AIP), who serves as a spokesman together with Prof. Dr. Tim Dietrich from University of Potsdam.

Brandenburg's Minister of Science, Dr. Manja Schüle, offers her congratulations: “A milestone for Brandenburg’s scientific community: we are establishing our first Leibniz ScienceCampus. This is a substantive win, as the interdisciplinary research approach integrates state-of-the-art simulation techniques across both small and large scales. This enables researchers to better understand and predict complex phenomena – from galaxy formation to climate change – by bringing together expertise in astrophysics, climate science, and applied mathematics. It’s also a structural win for our state, as the AIP, the University of Potsdam, and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research will be able to pool their expertise. Strengthening collaboration will be a central pillar of our forthcoming research strategy – and the Leibniz ScienceCampus ‘Multiscale Challenges: from Astrophysics to Climate Models’ is already anticipating this direction and putting it into practice. This is what a forward-looking research ecosystem ‘made in Brandenburg’ looks like.”

“Many of the most pressing scientific questions arise from the interplay of processes operating across vastly different spatial and temporal scales. Whether in galaxies or here on Earth, small-scale processes shape large-scale behavior. The ScienceCampus brings together expertise from astrophysics and Earth system science to develop new computational and data-driven approaches that model these interactions more consistently and precisely across all scales, ultimately enabling better predictions,” says Prof. Dr. Christoph Pfrommer.

At its core are next-generation simulation techniques, hybrid modelling strategies, and the use of artificial intelligence, particularly neural networks that learn physical laws. The goal is to significantly improve the representation of subscale processes in both astrophysical and climate models. In climate research, this will enable more precise projections and more robust strategies for the mitigation of and adaptation to climate change. In astrophysics, the Campus will advance our understanding of key phenomena such as galaxy formation, neutron star mergers, and exoplanet atmospheres, thereby bridging the gap to climate physics.

“The new ScienceCampus provides a unique platform to integrate methods and perspectives from different disciplines and to advance truly interdisciplinary research. By combining observational data, theoretical modelling, and state-of-the-art computational techniques, we can generate new insights into complex systems. This collaborative approach will not only strengthen the Potsdam–Berlin research region but also enhance international visibility and contribute to tackling urgent societal issues like climate change,” says Prof. Dr. Tim Dietrich.

Leibniz ScienceCampuses promote strategic, thematically focused collaboration between Leibniz institutes, universities, and external partners within a regional context. They strengthen interdisciplinarity, pool scientific excellence, and create internationally visible research centers. Through this program, the Leibniz Association deepens long-term cooperation among its member institutions and their partners, enhances regional networking, and further expands its international scientific visibility.

Source: Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP)/News

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The Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) is dedicated to astrophysical questions ranging from the study of our sun to the evolution of the cosmos. The key areas of research focus on stellar, solar and exoplanetary physics as well as extragalactic astrophysics. A considerable part of the institute's efforts aims at the development of research technology in the fields of spectroscopy, robotic telescopes, and e-science. The AIP is the successor of the Berlin Observatory founded in 1700 and of the Astrophysical Observatory of Potsdam founded in 1874. The latter was the world’s first observatory to emphasize explicitly the research area of astrophysics. The AIP has been a member of the Leibniz Association since 1992.

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Prof. Dr.
Christoph Pfrommer
Science contact
Phone: +49 331 7499 513
cpfrommer@aip.de

Tilo Bergemann
Media contact
Phone: +49 331 7499 803
presse@aip.de

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Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP)
An der Sternwarte 16
14482 Potsdam, Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 331 74 99 0
Fax: +49 (0) 331 74 99 209
info@aip.de
[Contact]

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Four newborn exoplanets get cooked by their sun

11 June 2020. Scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) examined the fate of the young star V1298 Tau and its four orbiting exoplanets. The results show that these recently born planets are roasted by the intense X-ray radiation of their young sun, which leads to the vaporisation of the gaseous envelope of these planets. The innermost planets could be evaporated down to their rocky cores, so that there is no atmosphere left.  Hi-res image

Young exoplanets live in a high-stakes environment: their sun produces a large amount of energetic X-ray radiation, typically one thousand to ten thousand times more than our own Sun. This X-ray radiation can heat the atmospheres of exoplanets and sometimes even boil them away. How much of an exoplanet's atmosphere evaporates over time depends on the properties of the planet – its mass, density, and how close it is to its sun. But how much can the star influence what happens over billions of years? This is a question that astronomers at the AIP chose to tackle in their newest paper.

The recently discovered four-planet system around the young sun V1298 Tau is a perfect test bed for this question. The central star is about the same size as our Sun. However, it is only about 25 million years old, which is much younger than our Sun with its 4.6 billion years. It hosts two smaller planets – roughly Neptune-sized – close to the star, plus two Saturn-sized planets farther out. “We observed the X-ray spectrum of the star with the Chandra space telescope to get an idea how strongly the planetary atmospheres are irradiated,” explains Katja Poppenhäger, the lead author of the study. The scientists determined the possible fates of the four exoplanets. As the star-planet system grows older, the rotation of the star slows down. The rotation is the driver for the star’s magnetism and X-ray emission, so slower rotation goes hand in hand with weaker X-ray emission. “The evaporation of the exoplanets depends on whether the star spins down quickly or slowly over the next billion years – the faster the spin-down, the less atmosphere is lost,” says PhD student and co-author Laura Ketzer, who developed a publicly available code to calculate how the planets evolve over time.

The calculations show that the two innermost planets of the system may lose their gas atmospheres completely and become rocky cores if the star spins down slowly, while the outermost planet will continue to be a gas giant. “For the third planet, it really depends on how heavy it is, which we don't know yet. Measuring the size of exoplanets with the transit technique works well, but determining planetary masses is much more challenging,” explains co-author Matthias Mallonn, who has updated the transit properties of the system using observations with AIP's ground-based STELLA telescope.

“X-ray observations of stars with planets are a key puzzle piece for us to learn about the long-term evolution of exoplanetary atmospheres,” concludes Katja Poppenhäger. “I am particularly excited about the possibilities we get through X-ray observations with eROSITA over the next few years.” The eROSITA X-ray telescope, which has been developed in part by the AIP, is conducting observations of the whole sky and will yield X-ray properties for hundreds of exoplanet host stars.

 Source:  Leiibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP)/News

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Science contact:

Prof. Dr. Katja Poppenhäger,

0331 7499 521

kpoppenhaeger@aip.de

Media contact:

Sarah Hönig

0331 7499 803

Publication:  https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa1462  -  https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.10240

Public code: https://github.com/lketzer/platypos/

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