Santander hosts the international JWST Through Cluster Lenses conference on gravitational lenses

The international JWST Through Cluster Lenses conference, held in Santander, brought together 71 researchers from various countries to analyze recent advances in the study of gravitational lenses based on observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

The University of Cantabria (UC) reported that the main goal of the event was to bring together the scientific community working on the study of gravitational lenses, especially those produced by galaxy clusters.

Gravitational lenses are a phenomenon predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, in which the gravity of a massive object curves spacetime and bends light coming from objects located behind it, acting as a “cosmic magnifying glass” to observe extremely distant galaxies.

Studying these lenses provides tools to investigate the distribution of baryonic and dark matter, determine cosmological parameters, study the evolution of the universe, and better understand the properties of galaxy clusters.

Researchers from the United States, NASA personnel, and four Spanish researchers, among others, participated. The event was organized by researchers from the Institute of Physics of Cantabria—José María Diego, Ana Acebrón, and José María Palencia—in collaboration with the University of Toronto and the city of Santander.

The JWST, the most powerful space observatory, allows the study of extremely distant objects and observation of the universe in its early stages. “It has enabled us to access objects and phenomena that were difficult or impossible to study until now,” commented Ana Acebrón.

During the conference, results obtained with the JWST were presented and scientific applications of gravitational lenses were analyzed, such as the reconstruction of the mass distribution, the study of dark matter, and the investigation of distant galaxies.

Part of the activity is linked to the Venus collaboration, which seeks to leverage observations of galaxy clusters to address questions about the structure and evolution of the universe.