ill look through this for some primary sources when i get a moment
i have not watched it yet
here is different perspective about human origins.......
According to my understanding of projections for the Universe, at some point all other galaxies will have receded beyond our "horizon." That is, it will appear to star-watchers in the far distant future that our galaxy is the full extent of the Universe, surrounded by seemingly endless empty space. However, if the concept in the following article/paper is correct, then it seems to me that instead of a single galaxy observers will see a large gathering of galaxies surrounded by empty space. I see that as slightly less bleak. ;)
"The Milky Way might be part of an even larger structure than Laniakea" |
Phys.org (https://phys.org/news/2024-10-milky-larger-laniakea.html)
QuoteIf you want to pinpoint your place in the universe, start with your cosmic address. You live on Earth->Solar System->Milky Way Galaxy->Local Cluster->Virgo Cluster->Virgo Supercluster->Laniakea. Thanks to new deep sky surveys, astronomers now think all those places are part of an even bigger cosmic structure in the "neighborhood" called The Shapley Concentration.
Astronomers refer to the Shapley Concentration as a "basin of attraction." That's a region loaded with mass that acts as an "attractor." It's a region containing many clusters and groups of galaxies and comprises the greatest concentration of matter in the local universe. All those galaxies, plus dark matter, lend their gravitational influence to the Concentration.
There are many of these basins in the universe, including Laniakea. Astronomers are working to survey them more precisely, which should help provide a more precise map of the largest structures in the universe.
One group, led by astronomer R. Brent Tully of the University of Hawai'i measured the motions of some 56,000 galaxies to understand these basins and their distribution in space. "Our universe is like a giant web, with galaxies lying along filaments and clustering at nodes where gravitational forces pull them together," said Tully.
"Just as water flows within watersheds, galaxies flow within cosmic basins of attraction. The discovery of these larger basins could fundamentally change our understanding of cosmic structure."
[Continues . . . (https://phys.org/news/2024-10-milky-larger-laniakea.html)]
The paper (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-024-02370-0) is behind a paywall.
QuoteAbstract:
The structure in the Universe is believed to have evolved from quantum fluctuations seeded by inflation in the early Universe. These fluctuations lead to density perturbations that grow via gravitational instability into large cosmological structures.
In the linear regime, the growth of a structure is directly coupled to the velocity field because perturbations are amplified by attracting (and accelerating) matter. Surveys of galaxy redshifts and distances allow one to infer the underlying density and velocity fields.
Here, assuming the lambda cold dark matter standard model of cosmology and applying a Hamiltonian Monte Carlo algorithm to the grouped Cosmicflows-4 (CF4) compilation of 38,000 groups of galaxies, the large-scale structure of the Universe is reconstructed out to a redshift corresponding to ~30,000 km s−1.
Our method provides a probabilistic assessment of the domains of gravitational potential minima: basins of attraction (BoA). Earlier Cosmicflows catalogues suggested that the Milky Way Galaxy was associated with a BoA called Laniakea. With the newer CF4 data, there is a slight probabilistic preference for Laniakea to be part of the much larger Shapley BoA. The largest BoA recovered from the CF4 data is associated with the Sloan Great Wall, with a volume within the sample of 15.5 × 106 (h−1 Mpc)3, which is more than twice the size of the second largest Shapley BoA.
Just finished reading this little booklet (96 pages). It covers a range of subjects and really just shows that while there is some evidence to work with we still have no real idea how reality works.
(https://imageshack.com/i/pnn1ZUaMj)
As I understand it at least some philosophers have concluded that all we can know is a human version of reality. I think it's a fairly close relation to a hypothetical non-humanly perceived reality but then I would, wouldn't I? It seems like we can understand some important stuff about reality, anyway.
Item below could be important if true. The authors seem pretty sure of their findings.
"Astronomers have found the home address for the universe's 'missing' matter" |
Phys.org (https://phys.org/news/2025-06-astronomers-home-universe.html)
QuoteA new landmark study has pinpointed the location of the universe's "missing" matter, and detected the most distant fast radio burst (FRB) on record. Using FRBs as a guide, astronomers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) and Caltech have shown that more than three-quarters of the universe's ordinary matter has been hiding in the thin gas between galaxies, marking a major step forward in understanding how matter interacts and behaves in the universe.
They've used the new data to make the first detailed measurement of ordinary matter distribution across the cosmic web. The research is published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
For decades, scientists have known that at least half of the universe's ordinary, or baryonic matter—composed primarily of protons—was unaccounted for. Previously, astronomers have used techniques including X-ray emission and ultraviolet observations of distant quasars to find hints of vast amounts of this missing mass in the form of very thin, warm gas in between galaxies. Because that matter exists as hot, low-density gas, it was largely invisible to most telescopes, leaving scientists to estimate but not confirm its amount or location.
Enter FRBs—brief, bright radio signals from distant galaxies that scientists only recently showed could measure baryonic matter in the universe, but until now could not find its location. In the new study, researchers analyzed 60 FRBs, ranging from ~11.74 million light years away—FRB20200120E in galaxy M81—to ~9.1 billion light years away—FRB 20230521B, the most distant FRB on record. This allowed them to pin down the missing matter to the space between galaxies, or the intergalactic medium (IGM).
"The decades-old 'missing baryon problem' was never about whether the matter existed," said Liam Connor, CfA astronomer and lead author of the new study. "It was always: Where is it? Now, thanks to FRBs, we know: three-quarters of it is floating between galaxies in the cosmic web." In other words, scientists now know the home address of the "missing" matter.
By measuring how much each FRB signal was slowed down as it passed through space, Connor and his team tracked the gas along its journey. "FRBs act as cosmic flashlights," Connor, who is also an assistant professor of astronomy at Harvard, said. "They shine through the fog of the intergalactic medium, and by precisely measuring how the light slows down, we can weigh that fog, even when it's too faint to see."
[Continues . . . (https://phys.org/news/2025-06-astronomers-home-universe.html)]
The paper (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-025-02566-y) is behind a paywall. There is a preprint version (https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.16952) but I think I saw some difference just in the abstract. Abstract quoted below more or less as published.
QuoteAbstract:
Approximately half of the Universe's dark matter resides in collapsed halos; significantly less than half of the baryonic matter (protons and neutrons) remains confined to halos. A small fraction of baryons are in stars and the interstellar medium within galaxies. The majority are diffuse (<10−3 cm−3) and ionized (neutral fraction <10−4), located in the intergalactic medium (IGM) and in the halos of galaxy clusters, groups and galaxies.
This diffuse ionized gas is notoriously difficult to measure, but has wide implications for galaxy formation, astrophysical feedback and precision cosmology. Recently, the dispersion of extragalactic fast radio bursts (FRBs) has been used to measure the total content of cosmic baryons.
Here we present a large cosmological sample of FRB sources localized to their host galaxies. We have robustly partitioned the missing baryons into the IGM, galaxy clusters and galaxies, providing a late-Universe measurement of the cosmic baryon abundance, Ωbh70 = 0.051±0.006 where Ωb is the baryon density parameter and h70 is the scaled Hubble constant.
Our results indicate efficient feedback processes that can deplete galaxy halos and enrich the IGM (total baryon fraction in the IGM is fIGM = 0.76±0.10), agreeing with the baryon-rich cosmic web scenario seen in cosmological simulations. Our results may reduce the 'S8 tension' in cosmology, as strong feedback leads to suppression of the matter power spectrum.
That looks really interesting! So in effect dark matter is simply previously undetectable normal matter?
I'd like to see how they square this away with spiral galaxy rotation behaviour which was the first indicator of 'missing' matter.
I believe the "missing baryon problem" is not the same as dark matter. In the abstract they talk about both dark matter and baryonic matter and refer to the "S8 tension (https://www.space.com/largest-computer-simulation-of-universe-s8-debate)".
An interesting link. Thank you.
It's more interesting when contradictory hypotheses are available. The "open Universe (https://sentinelmission.org/cosmology-glossary/open-universe/)" had seemed fairly well established but there is a new paper that attempts to revive the closed Universe. The article says we may get a test of the hypothesis, so something to look forward to maybe.
"If Dark Energy is Decreasing, is the Big Crunch Back on the Menu?" |
Universe Today (https://www.universetoday.com/articles/if-dark-energy-is-decreasing-is-the-big-crunch-back-on-the-menu)
QuoteFor generations, humans have gazed at the stars and wondered about the ultimate fate of the Universe. Will it expand forever into the cold emptiness, or meet a more dramatic end? A new study published by physicists from Cornell University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and other institutions suggests we may finally have an answer, and it's surprisingly specific.
Using data from a number of astronomical surveys including the Dark Energy Survey and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, the researchers have developed a model that predicts our Universe will end in a "Big Crunch" in approximately 33.3 billion years. Since the Universe is currently 13.8 billion years old, this gives us roughly 20 billion years before the curtain falls!
Think of it like a great big rubber band. Initially, the Universe expands as this "rubber band" stretches. But eventually, the elastic force becomes stronger than the expansion, causing everything to snap back together. According to the new model, the Universe continues expanding but at a gradually slowing rate until reaching maximum size, about 69% larger than today, in roughly 7 billion years. Then gradual contraction begins as gravitational forces and the negative cosmological constant take over, leading to rapid collapse in the final moments.
It's important to note that this prediction comes with significant uncertainty. The researchers acknowledge their model has large margins of error due to limited observational data. The negative cosmological constant that drives their prediction remains highly speculative, and alternative scenarios including eternal expansion are still possible.
What makes this research particularly exciting isn't just the prediction, but that we may soon be able to test it. Several major astronomical projects launching in the coming years will provide much more precise measurements of dark energy's behaviour, potentially confirming, refining, or ruling out the Big Crunch scenario entirely, once and for all.
[Continues . . . (https://www.universetoday.com/articles/if-dark-energy-is-decreasing-is-the-big-crunch-back-on-the-menu)]
A preprint version of the paper is available.
"The Lifespan of our Universe" |
arXiv (https://arxiv.org/html/2506.24011v1)
QuoteAbstract:
The Dark Energy Survey (DES) and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) measurements claim that the dark energy equation of state w≠−1. This observation can be explained by the axion Dark Energy (aDE) model of an ultralight axion plus a cosmological constant Λ. Despite a relatively large degeneracy, there is a high probability that Λ<0. This negative Λ leads the universe to end in a big crunch. Using the best-fit values of the model as a benchmark, we find the lifespan of our universe to be 33 billion years.
Since we will not be here in 33 billion years (except as scattered photons, perhaps), I suggest that we celebrate the Big Crunch now with a Big Brunch, with lots of crunchy foods, and Bloody Marys with celery sticks to provide a crunch with our drinks. Americans will celebrate anything.
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on July 08, 2025, 09:18:01 PMSince we will not be here in 33 billion years (except as scattered photons, perhaps), I suggest that we celebrate the Big Crunch now with a Big Brunch, with lots of crunchy foods, and Bloody Marys with celery sticks to provide a crunch with our drinks. Americans will celebrate anything.
I think that's a brilliant idea. Inspired even. :thumbsup2:
There is the minor detail that observations show the expansion of the Universe to be accelerating. We're talking about deep time though. As far as I know there's no evidence that the expansion can only accelerate. Perhaps it's possible that in several billion years the expansion will slow. After a few billion more years the Universe begins to contract and eventually it's Crunch time. :D
Cosmology is an area of physics where there is little enough knowledge that physicists can still run wild. :smilenod:
Quote from: Dark Lightning on July 09, 2025, 05:24:42 AMCosmology is an area of physics where there is little enough knowledge that physicists can still run wild. :smilenod:
Quote: The cosmos is a term that generally refers to the universe, often with the connotation of it being an orderly or harmonious system. It can be used in both scientific and philosophical contexts to describe the totality of existence."
Except that it isn't an orderly harmonious system.
Look into the night sky and you could be excused for thinking it's all quiet up there.
Not so.
It works off entropy which means it is destroying itself.
Life is only allowed to exist on this lump of space rock because either it helps to increase the entropy or it doesn't interfere with the process.
I am not an expert in this area. When I was an undergraduate at university I myself was drawn to study a module called Creation, Science and Faith today in my degree course of religious studies major/communications minor.
During my studies I read such works from academics such as physicist Gerald L Schroeder's timeless work before this discussion became more topical.
I formed the view that the creation story which applies to the three Abrahamic faiths was not at odds with the Big Bang theories/Cosmic Inflation. As the world was being created each day it was expanding and inflating and today it dilates. I am a spiritual person as well and do not overlook science.
I thought that I would update you about the latest research that the Big Bang Theory and Cosmic Inflation is not at odds with their being a Creator. I have quoted from an astrophysics magazine below and will link to the magazine.
Quoting a few quotes from a astrophysics magazine-
"For many, there's something very appealing about the Big Bang Theory, quite apart from its scientific veracity. With its image of a single, dramatic moment of creation, it conforms to earlier mythological and religious accounts"
"While an expanding universe is consistent is consistent with the Big Bang Theory it doesn't necessarily require it"
"Yet the Big Bang prevailed in the end, and the steady state picture fell by the way side. Thanks to further observational evidence"
"Scientists found it impossible to reconcile this with the idea that the universe has always been expanding at the relatively slow rate we observe today. Instead they had to assume a very brief period of Cosmic Inflation during the universe grew at a truly enormous rate"
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71n7w2LuDvL._SL1291_.jpg)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CKKNDBVN?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
are you familiar with lastthursdayism, greenblaze?
billy rubin no I have not heard of that before, but I have heard of the James Webb telescope and the upcoming Vera Rubin and what it might mean for the Big Bang Theory and have you heard of these?
Quote from: GreenBlaze on August 15, 2025, 12:04:36 PMbilly rubin no I have not heard of that before, but I have heard of the James Webb telescope and the upcoming Vera Rubin and what it might mean for the Big Bang Theory and have you heard of these?
no idea what the vera rubin is, although i read she was an astronomer.
i dont keep up with as much as i could.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipHmcBBpYOA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipHmcBBpYOA)
This item is intriguing, though I'll say that it's beyond my depth. I can repeat the title of the paper to you and mumble something about "mathematical images or descriptions of theoretical versions of space-time," but don't ask for much more at the moment.
This excerpt from the paper says more than I could. ;)
(https://i.imgur.com/ZpWqRsS.png)
"What happened before the Big Bang? Computational method may provide answers" |
Phys.org (https://phys.org/news/2025-08-big-method.html)
QuoteWe're often told it is "unscientific" or "meaningless" to ask what happened before the Big Bang. But a new paper by FQxI cosmologist Eugene Lim, of King's College London, UK, and astrophysicists Katy Clough, of Queen Mary University of London, UK, and Josu Aurrekoetxea, at Oxford University, UK, published in Living Reviews in Relativity, proposes a way forward: using complex computer simulations to numerically (rather than exactly) solve Einstein's equations for gravity in extreme situations.
The team argues that numerical relativity should be applied increasingly in cosmology to probe some of the universe's biggest questions–including what happened before the Big Bang, whether we live in a multiverse, if our universe has collided with a neighboring cosmos, or whether our universe cycled through a series of bangs and crunches.
Einstein's equations of general relativity describe gravity and the motion of cosmic objects. But wind the clock back far enough and you'll typically encounter a singularity—a state of infinite density and temperature—where the laws of physics collapse.
Cosmologists simply cannot solve Einstein's equations in such extreme environments—their normal simplifying assumptions no longer hold. And the same impasse applies to objects involving singularities or extreme gravity, such as black holes.
One issue might be what cosmologists take for granted. They normally assume that the universe is "isotropic" and "homogeneous"—looking the same in every direction to every observer. This is a very good approximation for the universe we see around us, and one that makes it possible to easily solve Einstein's equations in most cosmic scenarios. But is this a good approximation for the universe during the Big Bang?
"You can search around the lamppost, but you can't go far beyond the lamppost, where it's dark—you just can't solve those equations," explains Lim. "Numerical relativity allows you to explore regions away from the lamppost."
[Continues . . . (https://phys.org/news/2025-08-big-method.html)]
The paper is open access. ;D
"Cosmology using numerical relativity" |
Living Reviews in Relativity (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41114-025-00058-z)
QuoteAbstract:
This review is an up-to-date account of the use of numerical relativity to study dynamical, strong-gravity environments in a cosmological context. First, we provide a gentle introduction into the use of numerical relativity in solving cosmological spacetimes, aimed at both cosmologists and numerical relativists.
Second, we survey the present body of work, focusing on general relativistic simulations, organised according to the cosmological history—from cosmogenesis, through the early hot Big Bang, to the late-time evolution of the universe. We discuss the present state-of-the-art, and suggest directions in which future work can be fruitfully pursued.
Despite items like the previous, maybe partly because of them, I'm attracted to cosmology like a dog to a smelly spot on the ground.
Here we have scientists asking the question:
Why didn't the Universe completely annihilate itself in its first few moments of existence? That is, as they understand it matter and antimatter should have been produced in equal amounts and then reacted in an immense burst of energy. There is evidence for the immense burst of energy (aka the Big Bang and cosmic inflation) yet the Universe is, as far as we can tell, composed of matter. There is no evidence of antimatter, which on encountering matter would produce an event we should be able to see.
As you likely already know (and mentioned in the article) current thinking has it that for some reason there was a very small discrepancy between the amount of matter and the amount of antimatter that came into existence--the matter in the Universe we inhabit is that relatively small amount of matter left over after the initial giant reaction. This experiment may show that there could be an alternative explanation. I think.
Also, I like the name of this particular baryon: the "beauty baryon." Of course it follows that the experiment is called the "beauty experiment."
The title of the article may oversell things a bit but at least they stuck in the vital "may". ;)
"Major Antimatter Discovery May Help Solve Mystery of Existence" |
Science Alert (https://www.sciencealert.com/breaking-major-antimatter-discovery-may-help-solve-mystery-of-existence)
QuoteWe're now a step closer to understanding how the Universe avoided an antimatter apocalypse. CERN scientists have discovered tantalizing clues of a fundamental difference in the way physics handles matter and antimatter.
Experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have verified an asymmetry between matter and antimatter forms of a particle called a baryon.
Known as a charge-parity (CP) violation, the effect has only previously been detected in another class of particles, called mesons. But experimental evidence in baryons, which make up the bulk of the Universe's matter, is something physicists have been long hunting for.
"It shows that the subtle differences between matter and antimatter exist in a wider range of particles, indicating that the fundamental laws of physics treat baryons and antibaryons differently," Xueting Yang, CERN physicist and first author of the study, told ScienceAlert.
[Continues . . . (https://www.sciencealert.com/breaking-major-antimatter-discovery-may-help-solve-mystery-of-existence)]
The paper is open access. :heyhey:
"Observation of charge–parity symmetry breaking in baryon decays" |
Nature (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09119-3)
QuoteAbstract:
The Standard Model of particle physics—the theory of particles and interactions at the smallest scale—predicts that matter and antimatter interact differently due to violation of the combined symmetry of charge conjugation (C) and parity (P).
Charge conjugation transforms particles into their antimatter particles, whereas the parity transformation inverts spatial coordinates. This prediction applies to both mesons, which consist of a quark and an antiquark, and baryons, which are composed of three quarks.
However, despite having been discovered in various meson decays, CP violation has yet to be observed in baryons, the type of matter that makes up the observable Universe. Here we report a study of the decay of the beauty baryon ΛbO to the pK−π+π− final state, which proceeds through b → u or b → s quark-level transitions, and its CP-conjugated process, using data collected by the Large Hadron Collider beauty experiment at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).
The results reveal significant asymmetries between the decay rates of the ΛbO baryon and its CP-conjugated antibaryon, providing, to our knowledge, the first observation of CP violation in baryon decays and demonstrating the different behaviours of baryons and antibaryons.
In the Standard Model, CP violation arises from the Cabibbo–Kobayashi–Maskawa mechanism, and new forces or particles beyond the Standard Model could provide further contributions. This discovery opens a new path in the search for physics beyond the Standard Model.
"We think it's probably caused by dark matter." Worthwhile if true. An intriguing observation in any case, and definitely worthy of further investigation. Maybe will provide some answers as to what dark matter actually is.
"Exceptional 'Einstein Cross' in Space Reveals Where Dark Matter Is Hiding" |
Science Alert (https://www.sciencealert.com/exceptional-einstein-cross-in-space-reveals-where-dark-matter-is-hiding)
QuoteA chance configuration of objects arrayed across deep space has just revealed the hiding place of a giant glob of dark matter.
Configurations like these, known as Einstein crosses, typically consist of four distinct points of light. This particular example, named HerS-3, has a feature never seen before. At the center of the cross appears a fifth blob of light.
"That's not supposed to happen," says theoretical astrophysicist Charles Keeton (https://www.rutgers.edu/news/astronomers-discover-rare-einstein-cross-fifth-image-revealing-hidden-dark-matter) of Rutgers University-New Brunswick in the US. "You can't get a fifth image in the center unless something unusual is going on with the mass that's bending the light."
An Einstein cross in and of itself is a particularly rare cosmic phenomenon, created by light traveling through spacetime warped by the presence of an immense field of gravity. When light from a distant object, such as a galaxy, travels through this curved spacetime, it can split into four images of the galaxy that produced it, like the points of a cross.
Because the light is curved around the central mass, you don't see a fifth image of the background object in the center of the cross; if there is a light in the center, it's usually something in the foreground.
HerS-3 is a dusty, star-forming galaxy close to the edge of the visible Universe, emitting light that has traveled for 11.7 billion years to reach us.
Even at first glance, it seemed unusual. When a team led by astronomer Pierre Cox of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) took observations of it, they found their instincts correct: the light from the central dot was coming from the same distance as the four dots around it.
"We were like, 'What the heck?'" Cox says. "It looked like a cross, and there was this image in the center. I knew I had never seen that before."
To find out what was causing the strange image, the researchers ran through a gamut of possible explanations. Initially, they thought it was a glitch, but it turned out to be quite real. Computer modeling also ruled out any of the foreground galaxies as an explanation for the peculiar lensing.
Eventually, they could only conclude that the mechanism behind the warped region of spacetime had to be something we can't actually see: dark matter.
"We tried every reasonable configuration using just the visible galaxies, and none of them worked," says Keeton. "The only way to make the math and the physics line up was to add a dark matter halo. That's the power of modeling. It helps reveal what you can't see."
[. . .]
The researchers' modeling suggests that a closer group of galaxies whose light has traveled for about 8 billion years combines with a massive clump of dark matter, or dark matter halo, to produce the observed Einstein ring.
It's a remarkable find. That chance blob of dark matter sitting between us and HerS-3 magnifies the distant galaxy, giving us a much closer view of an active star-forming object in an early epoch of the Universe in which galaxies are usually too faint to resolve. It also offers a means of studying the nearer galaxy group, as well as the dark matter halo itself.
[Continues . . . (https://www.sciencealert.com/exceptional-einstein-cross-in-space-reveals-where-dark-matter-is-hiding)]
The paper is open access:
"HerS-3: An Exceptional Einstein Cross Reveals a Massive Dark Matter Halo" |
The Astrophysical Journal (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/adf204)
QuoteAbstract:
We present a study of HerS-3, a dusty star-forming galaxy at zspec = 3.0607, which is gravitationally amplified into an Einstein cross with a fifth image of the background galaxy seen at the center of the cross. Detailed 1 mm spectroscopy and imaging with NOEMA and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array resolve the individual images and show that each of the five images display a series of molecular lines that have similar central velocities, unambiguously confirming that they have identical redshifts.
The Hubble Space Telescope F110W image reveals a foreground lensing group of four galaxies with a photometric redshift zphot ∼ 1.0. Lens models that only include the four visible galaxies are unable to reproduce the properties of HerS-3. By adding a fifth massive component, lying southeast of the brightest galaxy of the group, the source reconstruction is able to match the peak emission, shape, and orientation for each of the five images. The fact that no galaxy is detected near that position indicates the presence of a massive dark matter halo in the lensing galaxy group.
In the source plane, HerS-3 appears as an infrared luminous starburst galaxy seen nearly edge on. The serendipitous discovery of this exceptional Einstein cross offers a potential laboratory for exploring at small spatial scales a nuclear starburst at the peak of cosmic evolution and studying the properties of a massive dark matter halo associated with the lensing galaxy group.
^ Mind bending stuff.
45 years on from my "Solar System Astrophysics" class at uni, that class is going to look a lot different. I'm just a groupie now, and don't have to do the math anymore. :D