Gravitational lensing as a research area investigates the deflection, magnification, and distortion of light from distant sources by intervening mass distributions, as predicted by general relativity, and develops methods to use these effects as astrophysical and cosmological probes. It encompasses strong, weak, and microlensing regimes, focusing on reconstructing mass profiles of galaxies and clusters, mapping dark matter, constraining dark energy via lensing statistics and cosmic shear, and testing gravity on large scales. The field integrates theoretical modeling, numerical simulations, and analysis of large imaging and spectroscopic surveys, emphasizing inverse problems, bias control, and statistical inference to extract cosmological parameters and substructure properties.
This NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope Picture of the Month brings us a scene from the distant universe. Pictured here is the galaxy cluster MACS J1149.5+2223, or MACS J1149 for short, which is located about 5 billion ...
Astronomy
Jan 22, 2026
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With new technologies comes new discoveries. Or so Spider Man's Uncle Ben might have said if he was an astronomer. Or a scientist more generally—but in astronomy that saying is more true than many other disciplines, as ...
Planetary Sciences
Dec 18, 2025
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There is an important and unresolved tension in cosmology regarding the rate at which the universe is expanding, and resolving this could reveal new physics. Astronomers constantly seek new ways to measure this expansion ...
Astronomy
Dec 5, 2025
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Quasars acting as strong gravitational lenses are among the rarest finds in astronomy. Out of nearly 300,000 quasars cataloged in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, only twelve candidates were identified, and just three confirmed. ...
Astronomy
Nov 17, 2025
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For the first time, an international research team led by the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has demonstrated that applying pixelized strong-lensing modeling on a galaxy cluster ...
Astronomy
Nov 3, 2025
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Periodically, the European Space Agency (ESA) releases images that provide breathtaking views of the cosmos, courtesy of its premier missions. This includes a relative newcomer to party with the ESA/Webb Picture of the Month, ...
Astronomy
Oct 7, 2025
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When Rutgers theoretical astrophysicist Charles Keeton first saw an unusual picture shared by his colleague, he was intrigued.
Astronomy
Sep 16, 2025
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Astronomers are living in a golden age of bigger and better telescopes. But even our most advanced technology pales in comparison to the power of nature's own "cosmic magnifying glasses"—strong gravitational lenses.
Astronomy
Aug 20, 2025
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Sometimes, in order to support an idea, you first have to discredit alternative, competing ideas that could take resources away from the one you care about. In the scientific community, one of the most devastating ways you ...
Astronomy
Jul 14, 2025
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Combining the way that massive galaxies and galaxy clusters bend space and magnify our view of the distant universe with powerful new instruments sensitive to gravitational waves and electromagnetic radiation will lead to ...
Astronomy
Jun 12, 2025
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