Max Planck Institute for Astronomy - Annual Report 2005

Fig. V.13.5: Christoph Leinert among his colleagues in the control
centre of the DFVLR (today named DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen
shortly after the start of Helios B in January 1976. (Courtesy:
Norbert Salm)
of international participations with strong partners, as
was the case of iso with the esa. And it will probably
be similar with miri and nirsPec on the James Webb
Telescope of esa/nasa.
One should absolutely continue to pursue the idea
of an observatory in Antarctica, but there are lots of
unsolved problems. How, for instance, can instruments
be set up about 30 meters above an ice shield steadily
and for a long period of time? What are the influences
of the aurora and how good is the seeing? It is certainly
an interesting location – but do we really have to join in
during the exploratory phase?
Leinert: The ELT will be realized in all probability
about 15 to 20 years from now. The Americans are seriously
working on a national 30 m telescope, and the
Europeans are rightly pursuing the development of a
telescope of similar size. The contribution of our Institute
to such a huge project can only be a small one, though.
However, a collaboration in the definition phase, such
as that currently taking place for the infrared instrument
towl, may pay off later when an influential participation
in the construction or better opportunities in the
use of such a telescope are involved. These are difficult
decisions, and I wish our directors the right intuition
for making them. At any rate, the example of the SDSS
sky survey has shown that even a small contribution to
a large project can produce very satisfactory results for
V.13 Four Decades on the Königstuhl – an Interview with Christoph Leinert and Dietrich Lemke 139
our Institute. Taking the long-term view, it is a question
of whether larger and larger telescopes are the right and
only road to the future of optical astronomy. Maybe one
should, like radioastronomers, bet on interferometric
arrays, for instance by linking a dozen 10 m telescopes
distributed over an area of one kilometer.
Former director in the Federal Ministry of Education
and Research, Hermann-Friedrich Wagner, recommended
in an interview (see following section) that a third
director be hired for the MPIA. What is your opinion?
Lemke: I would also approve of that. Other Max Planck
Institutes of similar size indeed have three or four directors.
For us, it would be important to have a third person
acting as a connecting link between the fields of work of
Henning (star and planet formation) and Rix (galaxies
and cosmology). That could be a connecting scientific
subject or state-of-the-art technology in astrophysical
instrumentation, such as interferometry, infrared, widefield
imaging, or adaptive optics as well.
Mr. Leinert, Mr. Lemke we thank you for this interview.
Leinert, Lemke: We don't want to conclude this interview,
though, without expressing our pleasure at still
having an office (now common) available in the Institute,
even after our retirement. Here we can continue our work
that is not yet completed and give our successors our
advice and support – if we are asked!
(The questions were asked
by Thomas Bührke and Jakob Staude)