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On Wednesday, 11 February 2026, the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) awarded the Johann Wempe Prize to Dr Sebastian Kamann from Liverpool John Moores University for his outstanding research on the formation and evolution of massive globular clusters. As part of his work, he succeeded in discovering inactive black holes in star clusters in our galactic neighborhood and developed a software called PampelMUSE for extracting spectra from data cubes of dense star fields.
Sebastian Kamann started his research in astronomy after obtaining his degree in physics from the University of Potsdam. He did his doctorate at the AIP, where he was part of the research group on Galaxies and Quasars. He developed the PampelMUSE software, which made it possible for the first time to extract stellar spectra from dense star fields. Using the MUSE spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, several hundred to 3,000 stellar spectra can be measured per observation field. The software is used successfully worldwide and is continuously being further developed.
By measuring over 500,000 individual spectra in 25 globular clusters, Sebastian Kamann was able to characterise the kinematics of the stars in detail. He discovered that most star clusters rotate. Among other things, this allowed him to determine central black holes of medium mass. His method also contributed to the discovery of three inactive stellar black holes in star clusters. The observation of globular clusters with the MUSE spectrograph, led by Sebastian Kamann, has yielded a wealth of further scientific discoveries: findings on the distinguishability of different populations of stars in globular clusters in the Milky Way, surprising measurements of the frequencies of binary stars and their periods, the influence of stellar rotation on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, and the complex kinematics inside globular clusters.
Sebastian Kamann's research provides new insights into star evolution, the star populations of the Milky Way, and the complex internal kinematics of globular clusters. His work contributes to a better understanding of the formation and evolution of these clusters.
In honour of Prof. Dr. Johann Wempe (1906 – 1980), the last director of the former Astrophysical Observatory of Potsdam (AOP), the AIP grants the Johann Wempe Award, first awarded in 2001, to outstanding scientists.
https://www.aip.de/en/news/2026-wempe-prize-kamann/
Dr. Sebastian Kamann received the 2026 Johann Wempe Award for his groundbreaking research.
Source: Stefan Gloede
Copyright: AIP
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