Year of the Comet
Comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS)

PANSTARRS information

Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON)

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Web Extras

DIY gravitational lensing

Mimic the effects of massive galaxies and stars from the comfort of your own home.

By Bill Andrews
By Ray Villard
Published: November 26, 2012
Gravitational-lensing
In his January story, Ray Villard delved into the physics and uses behind “How gravity’s grand illusion reveals the universe.” Thanks to the space-time-warping properties of mass, a big enough object like a galaxy or even just a star can alter the path of light traveling near it. As Villard explains, this isn’t just a fun quirk of the universe — it’s a valuable tool that allows astronomers to see farther than they otherwise could and map what otherwise would be completely invisible.

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