Today we access the Universe with modern international large observatories that become increasingly bigger and powerful. Earth-based observatories are often located at remote sites on Earth where only very few disturbing factors can corrupt the measurements: far away from the light pollution of big cities in deserts, on high mountains and at places with stable weather conditions. Astronomical observation also takes place from space: here the disturbing influence of the atmosphere, which even shields of some parts of the electromagnetic spectrum like X-rays completely, is totally eliminated. Space observatories record data which is transmitted to Earth for analysis. The Potsdam institutions contribute to a significant number of telescopes world-wide and in space through instrumentation and research projects. The following list gives an overview.
Facilities on Earth
Advanced LIGO
- Gravitational-wave detector with facilities in Hanford and in Livingston, USA
- Participation: AEI
- Website of LIGO Hanford
- Website of LIGO Livingston
VERITAS Observatory
- Gamma ray observatory in Arizona, USA
- Participation: DESY
- Website of the VERITAS Collaboration
Zwicky-Transient-Facility (ZTF)
- Sky survey at the Palomar Observatory, California, USA
- Participation: DESY
- ZTF-Website
Fairborn Observatory
- Site with robotic telescopes in Arizona, USA
- Participation: AIP
Large Binocular Telescope (LBT)
- Telescope with the largest optical single mirrors at Mount Graham, Arizona, USA
- Participation: AIP
- LBT Observatory Website
Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)
- Large-scale sky survey using telescopes at the Apache Point Observatory, New Mexico, USA and at the Las Campanas Observatory, Chile
- Participation: AIP
- Website about SDSS-Instrumentation
Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET)
- Very powerful optical telescope at the McDonald Observatory, Texas, USA
- Participation with instrumentation: AIP
- Website of the McDonald Observatory
VISTA Telescope
- "Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy" – Survey telescope at the Paranal Observatory of ESO in the Atacama desert, Chile
- Participation with Instrumentation: AIP
- Website of ESO (European Southern Observatory)
Very Large Telescope (VLT)
- Highly powerful optical observatory with four main telescopes and four auxiliary telescopes that can be combined interferometrically at the Paranal Observatory of ESO in the Atacama desert, Chile
- Participation with instrumentation: AIP
- Website of ESO (European Southern Observatory)
European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT)
- Planned European, extremely big optical telescope with a nearly 40-meter mirror in Cerro Armazones, Chile
- Participation with instrumentation: AIP
- Website of ESO (European Southern Observatory) about the E-ELT
Observatorio de Calar Alto
- German-Spanish observatory in the Sierra de Los Filabres, north of Almeria, Spain
- Participation with instrumentation: AIP
- Website of the Calar Alto Observatory
International LOFAR Telescope (ILT)
- Digital radio telescope with stations in the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Great Britain, France and Poland
- Participation: AIP
- Website of the LOFAR Project
Hundred Square-km Cosmic ORigin Explorer (HiSCORE)
- Detector for very high-energy gamma rays in im Tunka-Valley, Sibiria, Russia
- Participation: DESY
- Project website for HiSCORE
GEO600 Gravitational-Wave Detector
- Gravitational-wave detector in Ruthe in the vicinity of Hannover, Germany
- Project of the AEI with British partners
- Website of GEO600
KAGRA Observatory
- Gravitational-wave detector in Hida, Japan
- Participation: AEI
- Website of KAGRA
Virgo
- Italian-French gravitational-wave detector in Italy, near Pisa
- Participation: AEI
- Website of Virgo
Observatorio del Teide
- Observatory with several telescopes at 2400 meters height in Tenerife, Spain
- Participation: AIP
- Website of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
MAGIC Telescope
- Gamma ray observatory at La Palma, Spain
- Participation: DESY
- Website of the MAGIC Group
Siding Spring Observatory
- Observatory run by the Australian National University (ANU) 500km north-west of Sydney, Australia
- Participation: AIP
- Website of the Australian National University
Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA)
- Gamma ray observatory with two planned sites in Chile (Paranal) and Spain (La Palma)
- Participation: DESY, Science Data Management Centre is being built on the DESY-Campus in Zeuthen
- CTA Website
H.E.S.S. Observatory
- High-energy observatory in Namibia
- Participation: DESY
- Project website for H.E.S.S.
IceCube Neutrino Observatory
- Neutrino detector in the ice of the South Pole, Antarctic
- Participation: DESY
- Website about IceCube by the University of Wisconsin
Facilities in Space
XMM-Newton
- X-ray satellite mission of the European Space Agency (ESA)
- Participation: AIP
- ESA-Website about XMM-Newton
Fermi
- Space telescope of the NASA for Gamma ray astronomy
- Participation: DESY
- Website of the NASA about Fermi
GAIA
- Space observatory of the European Space Agency (ESA) for scanning the Milky Way
- Participation: AIP
- ESA Website about GAIA
LISA Pathfinder (2015-2017)
- Pathfinder mission for LISA
- Participation: AEI
- Project website about LISA Pathfinder and LISA
eROSITA
- Main instrument of the Russian "Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma" (SRG) Satellite
- Participation: AIP
- Website of the eROSITA-Mission
Solar Orbiter
- Planned space probe of the European Space Agency (ESA) to investigate the Sun
- Participation: AIP
- ESA-Website for the Solar Orbiter Mission
PLATO
- Space observatory of the European Space Agency (ESA) to search for extrasolar planets (Launch: 2024)
- Participation: AIP
- ESA website about the PLATO mission
LISA
- Gravitational-wave detector in space (Launch: 2034)
- Participation: AEI
ULTRASAT - Ultraviolet Transient Astronomy Satellite
- Mission lead by the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel
- Participation: DESY
- Projekt website for ULTRASAT (engl.)