Terra incognita refer to the hypothesized continent Terra Australis Incognita ("The unknown land of the South"), as seen in the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum map by Abraham Ortelius (1570). During the 19th century "terra incognita" disappeared from maps of the earth, since both the coastlines and the inner parts of the continents had been fully explored. But the bottoms of the seas remain mostly un-mapped, as do many other land surfaces in the solar system. The phrase is now also used metaphorically by various researchers to describe any unexplored subject or field of research. For more history of the terms, see Terra Australis,
Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research University's Faculty of Physics by April 2014. The move was completed in February 2014 and the opening ceremony held on 21 May of the same year. Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research The Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (abbreviation: MPS; ) is a research institute in astronomy and astrophysics located in Göttingen, Germany, where it relocated in February 2014 from the nearby village of Lindau. The exploration of the solar system is the central theme for research done at this institute. MPS is a part of the Max Planck Society, which operates 80 research facilities in Germany.