Annual Meeting of the German Astronomical Society in Garching, 7-11 September 2026
The scientific theme of this year's annual meeting relates to the many different structures in the Universe that give rise to a bewildering richness of phenomena, from the scale of individual planets, stars, and compact objects such as neutron stars and back holes, to dense clusters of stars and galaxies of different sizes, and finally to the gigantic structures of the cosmic web. The meeting will furthermore address processes in the diffuse gas between all these objects, covering magnetic fields, star forming clouds, as well as cosmic accelerators that produce ultra-high energy cosmic rays. The meeting will also exchange views about newest observational findings and theoretical advances over a wide range of scales, from high redshift to the present epoch, and discuss upcoming new observational missions and opportunities.
An important goal of the meeting is to bring together scientists from different areas of astronomy, to foster professional exchanges between them, and to update everyone about the newest developments in the field. Aspects relating to public outreach and education, and to diversity and inclusion, are additional important topics.
The conference takes place on the research campus on Garching, home to one of the largest concentrations of astrophysical research in Europe. This includes two Max Planck Institutes dedicated to Astronomy (MPA and MPE), the Headquarters of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), and astrophysical research groups at the Ludwig Maximilans University of Munich (LMU) and the Technical University of Munich (TUM), as well as the local Excellence Cluster ORIGINS, which investigates the development of the Universe from the Big Bang to the Emergence of Life. The main meeting will take place at TUM, with additional events scheduled at the MPA and the ESO Supernova, a cutting-edge astronomy centre for the public located at the site of ESO.
The meeting features a broad program of 15 plenary invited lectures, 22 splinter meetings on a diverse set of topics, a poster session, and an award ceremony with talks by the prize winners. As a further highlight of the meeting, a free public lecture will by given by Prof. Harald Lesch, one of the most well known astrophysicists and science communicators in Germany. This will take place at 8 pm on Thursday, September 10, at the TUM Mechanical Engineering Building, Boltzmannstr. 15 in Garching.
Registration for participation in the conference in Garching and for making scientific contributions is now possible via the conference website:
https://ag2026.astronomische-gesellschaft.de
The registration deadline for the meeting is August 31, 2027. Note that until Juli 15 reduced early registration fees apply, whereas afterwards the regular conference fee needs to be covered.
