Nobel Laureate Genzel Highlights Long-Term Discipline in Astrophysics
A leading German physicist says discipline and new imaging tools are vital as astronomy nears its technological limits
Choosing a field defined by mystery rather than certainty shaped the scientific path of Nobel-winning astrophysicist Reinhard Genzel, who says his career was anchored not by sudden revelation but by sustained determination. His journey into astrophysics, he reflected, was neither straightforward nor glamorous. It grew from early intellectual curiosity, the influence of mentors, and a recognition that physics offered the endless frontier he sought.
He recalled that as a child, he had wanted to become an archaeologist.
“I realized the Romans were done, the Greeks were done, the Chinese were done, and the Egyptians were done,” he said, adding that the practical discomforts of jungle fieldwork soon shifted his attention. That pivot opened the way to physics.
“My father (Ludwig Genzel 1922–2003), a professor of solid state physics, was very delighted that I would like to learn more physics,” he said. “As a 16- or 17-year-old, I learned quantum physics already, and that was fantastic,” he told the media on the sidelines of the 2025 Hong Kong Laureate Forum on November 6.
Genzel later found a second, even more formative mentor: Charles H. Townes (1915-2015), a pioneer in laser technology and one of America’s most celebrated physicists.
“Townes was an extraordinary man,” he said. “From him, I learned a lot about humanity, not only about physics.”
Townes’ guidance shaped Genzel’s philosophy of collaboration, integrity, and scientific patience—qualities that would later become essential in the decades-long effort to prove the existence of a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
That emphasis on patience, he argued, remains undervalued in an era that celebrates rapid breakthroughs. Astronomy, particularly black hole research, works on a much longer clock.
“Sometimes the discovery takes 50 years, or in this case, 100 years,” Genzel said. Technological limits slow the pace. Hardware failures stall progress. Teams must be rebuilt. But he stressed that perseverance defines the enterprise far more than sudden insights do.
He noted that long-cycle research brings inevitable frustrations.
“Sometimes it doesn’t work,” he said. Instruments underperform, software fails, or theoretical predictions collapse under new data. Yet those setbacks, he argued, strengthen a research group—forcing teams to sharpen their thinking and redouble their focus on long-term goals.
Genzel described a career marked by large wins spaced far apart, each dependent on years of incremental calibration and reinvention.
“What we did two nights ago is a major breakthrough,” he said of a recent milestone in imaging technology. “That doesn’t happen every day.”
In his view, this cadence should not discourage young scientists but inspire them to embrace the “long road” inherent in discovery.
Interferometry Breakthrough
Reinhard Genzel has become one of the world’s most influential voices in observational astrophysics, earning the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the center of the Milky Way and the Shaw Prize in Astronomy in 2008. He now serves as the Director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE), a global leader in precision astronomy.
Genzel delivered his latest insights to more than 200 science students from around the world at the 2025 Hong Kong Laureate Forum, an event sponsored by the Lee Shau Kee Foundation, outlining the engineering milestones that have reshaped the field.
He described how optical and near-infrared interferometry—long considered impossible—has finally become reality.
“The experiment they’re doing here is the most complex way to do optical and near-infrared astronomy ever done,” he said.
For decades, scientists believed long-baseline interferometry at short wavelengths was unworkable because atmospheric turbulence destroys coherence in milliseconds. That barrier has now been lifted through the successful use of four synchronized laser guide stars at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile.
“This will improve the sensitivity of the device by a factor of probably six,” he said, calling the achievement “fantastic progress.”
Mapping the Galactic Centre
Astronomers spent decades trying to prove that a supermassive black hole sits at the center of our galaxy, and Genzel’s team helped deliver the decisive evidence. Instead of relying on images alone, they watched how nearby stars move—much like tracking planets orbiting the Sun. If the stars whipped around an invisible point at extreme speeds, it would reveal something incredibly massive and compact.
Over 30 years, researchers observed several stars making tight, fast orbits around the region known as “Sagittarius A*,” the Milky Way’s central powerhouse. One of the best-known stars, called S2, completes an orbit in just 16 years and comes remarkably close to the black hole. Its motion provided some of the clearest proof that only a supermassive black hole could explain such behavior.
Genzel noted that even more dramatic discoveries are now emerging. Astronomers have identified a star that travels far closer than S2, allowing scientists to test gravity under extreme conditions and potentially measure the black hole’s spin in the coming years. These advances, he said, mark a new era in understanding the core of our galaxy.
The Edge of What’s Possible
While celebrating these advances, Genzel also offered a realistic appraisal of the scale of the problems facing global astronomy. The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), now under construction in Chile’s Atacama Desert, represents the limit of what Europe can feasibly build.
“That’s at the absolute limit of what Europe can do,” he said, adding that the next generation of telescopes may exceed the capacity of any single region.
Large missions like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have already stretched national budgets to the breaking point, and replication appears unlikely. Ground-based observatories face similar constraints.
“We’ve learned to work together and not try to do every nation for itself,” Genzel said, emphasizing that collaboration will be essential for future mega-projects.
Genzel further noted that sustaining such cooperation will require long-term political will and a renewed commitment to shared scientific infrastructure. He highlighted that many of today’s instruments—from adaptive optics systems to cryogenic detectors—grew out of decades of multinational investment. Without similar continuity, he warned, the next wave of observatories could be delayed or downsized.
He also pointed out that ground-based astronomy increasingly competes with satellite constellations for clear skies, meaning that future planning must include industry coordination and new regulatory frameworks.
These pressures, he said, make it more important than ever for governments and research institutions to articulate why these projects matter: they push the boundaries of human knowledge, drive technological spin-offs, and inspire new generations to pursue science. Maintaining that momentum, he argued, will define whether the coming decades become a golden era of discovery or a period of stalled ambitions.
Recent observations have revealed massive black holes forming just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, far earlier than expected. Genzel highlighted the puzzle plainly: “We are puzzled. Why? How could that be?” Theories range from accelerated accretion to primordial black holes formed during the earliest moments of the universe.
These findings raise fundamental questions about galaxy formation models and the timeline of cosmic evolution. Genzel views the coming decade as a period of extraordinary opportunity as new telescopes and gravitational wave observatories expand research horizons.
Inspiring the Next Generation
Communicating this science to the public remains a parallel challenge. Genzel said younger audiences are often the most receptive.
“The younger, the better,” he noted, emphasising that students aged seven to fifteen “love to hear it” even if they do not understand every detail.
In an interview with TechJournal.uk, he acknowledged that some critics question the value of fundamental research.
“There are many people who will say: your pictures are beautiful. But what do you do for humanity?” he noted.
Genzel said it is not always easy to answer such challenges directly, but emphasized that “we are useful because we are feeding the curiosity of young people.”
He added that as a Nobel Prize winner, he gives many talks to students, and “they are very interested in that.” He stressed that astronomy plays a crucial role in inspiring future scientists, even though “it’s very expensive.”
When speaking to older audiences and potential donors, he recommended clarity and narrative over formulas.
“If you come and explain dry formulas, that’s hard on everyone,” he said. Instead, he uses imagery, analogies, and even music to bring complex concepts to life.
Looking ahead, Genzel believes the future of astronomy will rest on strong mentors, disciplined teams, and the willingness to stay committed through multi-decade projects. “You have to be curious because you have to do something difficult,” he said.
