Observing the Distant Universe in High Definition with Gravitational Lensing

November's Science on Tap! Doors open at 6pm, program starts at 6:30pm.

In the past decade strong gravitational lensing has emerged as a powerful tool for studying the distant universe. Massive structures distort space-time, resulting in rare but spectacular strong lensing events in which those massive structures act as "natural telescopes", magnifying our view of distant object behind them. By pointing our best observational facilities--such as the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope--at these natural telescopes we can study the distant universe in the highest possible definition. We will first describe the launch and capabilities of the newly commissioned James Webb Space Telescope. We will then discuss recent work using our most powerful telescopes in combination with the strongest natural telescopes to learn how stars and galaxies formed at early cosmic times.

About our Speaker
Dr. Matthew Bayliss holds a degree in Physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a PhD in Astronomy & Astrophysics from the University of Chicago. He held appointments as a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University, a faculty fellow at Colby College in Maine, and a postdoctoral fellow and research scientist at MIT. Dr. Bayliss joined the faculty of the Department of Physics at the University of Cincinnati in 2019, where he leads an active research group that uses a wide array of observational facilities to solve problems in observational astrophysics and cosmology.