Gravitational Lenses magnify the light from very distant galaxies enabling astronomers to see much farther and learn about the universe’s distant past. At the University of Chicago, a group of undergraduate students used data from the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (DECALS) and follow up observations from the Gemini Observatory to discover the early universe’s brightest gravitationally lensed galaxy. In this podcast, learn the fascinating story of how this gravitational lens was discovered and what we can learn about the early universe from this discovery. 

 

Bio: 

- Rob Sparks is in the Communications, Education and Engagement group at NSF’s NOIRLab.

- Gourav Khullar is a graduate student at the University Of Chicago.

- Michael Gladders is a professor at the University of Chicago. 

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Links:

NOIRLab Stories: https://noirlab.edu/public/blog/most-lensed-galaxy/

DECALS: https://www.legacysurvey.org/decamls/

COOL-LAMPS: https://coollamps.github.io/

https://news.uchicago.edu/story/uchicago-undergrads-discover-bright-lensed-galaxy-early-universe

NOIRLab social media channels can be found at:

https://www.facebook.com/NOIRLabAstro

https://twitter.com/NOIRLabAstro

https://www.instagram.com/noirlabastro/

https://www.youtube.com/noirlabastro

 

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