Larger, farther, heavier: Even the most powerful telescopes on Earth and in space reach their limits when it comes to studying distant galaxies in detail. But the universe provides astronomy with powerful “cosmic magnifying glasses”—so-called gravitational lenses. In this process, individual galaxies or entire galaxy clusters bend the light from distant objects, magnifying and amplifying it, and sometimes even creating multiple images.
Gravitational lenses are thus among the most fascinating tools of modern astronomy. At this Café and Kosmos evening, Stefan Taubenberger, Elias Mamuzic, and Allan Schweinfurth from the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics will take you on a journey into the exciting world of gravitational lenses and explain how they can be used to map the universe or predict cosmic catastrophes.