Focusing the Distant Universe with Gravitational Lensing

Observing distant objects allows us to peer back in time to early stages of the universe, across the most active period of galaxy growth when most stars were born. While galaxies are challenging to study at such large distances, nature occasionally gives us an advantage through the phenomenon of gravitational lensing. The lensing effect can cause galaxies to be magnified in apparent size and brightness by factors of more than 10. Viewed through Keck’s adaptive optics, gravitational lens systems reveal the formation history of galaxies like our own Milky Way.