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| History of the MPIfR |
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History of the MPIfR
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German postal stamp – astronomical constellation „Swan“ (© MPIfR) |
The Institute was founded in 1966 by the Max Planck Society as the “Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy“.
Before the foundation of the MPIfR
From the 1950s, there was an Institute for Radio Astronomy at the University of Bonn. The Institute operated its own 25 meter radio telescope in Stockert, not far from Bad Münstereifel. From 1962, Prof. Dr. Otto Hachenberg was the director of the Institute.
The Institute approached the Volkswagen Foundation to propose expansion plans. The main aim was the construction and operation of a new, larger radio telescope. It was clear from the beginning that the costs would far exceed the funds of a single university institute.
The Partnership Bonn University-Max Planck Society
At that time, the Max Planck Society was planning to install a new institute with special focus on radio astronomical research. By joining both projects, i.e. the growing of the unversity institute and the foundation of a Max Planck institute, the new Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy was founded in short time.
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Foundation
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Prof. Dr. Hachenberg, the first director of the Institute, presenting a model of the 100-meter-radiotelescope in 1967 |
The Institute for Radio Astronomy at the University of Bonn was incorporated in the newly founded Max Planck Institute of Radio Astronomy (MPIfR). Prof. Dr. Otto Hachenberg became the first director of the MPIfR.
Shortly after the foundation of the MPIfR, the plans for the largest movable radio telescope worldwide were realised. The Volkswagen Foundation agreed to fund the project. The inauguration ceremony of the 100-meter-Radiotelescope took place on August 1st, 1972.
Enlargement of the Institute
Two new wings at the Institute building were completed in 1983 and 2002.
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International Cooperation
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APEX-Telescope in Chile
In 2004, the construction and operation of a 12-meter-radio telescope started in Chile’s Atacama Desert at an ideal site for sub-millimetre observations. The project is called the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX). The telescope is jointly operated with the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the Swedish Onsala Space Observatory (OSO).
Heinrich-Hertz-Telescope
In cooperation with the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory, the Institute operated the 10-metre-Radio Telescope for sub-millimetre observations (Heinrich-Hertz-Telescope) until June 2004.
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© 2010, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Bonn |
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