Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains Gravitational Lensing and Space Telescopes

Can gravity bend space, creating a cosmic "magnifying lens" that could allow us to see further into the universe? Watch astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson explain gravitational lensing, space telescopes & Einstein's prediction to comic co-host Eugene Mirman in this StarTalk Radio Cosmic Query.

Catch up with StarTalk Radio around the web:

[markec]

A 2-prong question: what was the highest temperature achieved in a lab? Is there a universal limit on how high temperature can go? (we all learned about 0 Kelvin as being lowest possible, but I never heard about the highest)

[kazmorran]

the "550AU" sci-fi books are based on this

[calebpoemoceah]

Is a gravitational lens also made up of quantum domain walls, and gravity?

[olliloco]

This is being done as we speak.. the ultra deep field / extreme deep field shows the lensing effect.. now they use it with Hubble to make a 'ultra deep survey'.. it's also here on u tub, just look it up.. :))

[johnfarmer]

The question that needs to be asked is can aliens see us with gravitational lensing? It’s been 14, 000 years since artificial light can be distinguished on regular bases from our large cities/villages. 14, 000 light years, that is getting some distance. So that's like 10% to 14% of the Milky Way. So that is 40 to 50 billion stars. Each star system having 6 planets. That’s 300 billion planets. However, saying 14, 000 light years is the planet's detectable limit is probably underestimating our light bubble by a few hundred million years. If you add in the 'Cambrian Explosion' were animals started changing the visible atmosphere, it makes the earth's noticeable life light bubble quite a bit further out. In fact, it puts it at 541 million light years. I realize that even with gravitational lensing it would be impossible to distinguish us at that distance. Unless they were advance enough to make the lensing happen with two or more gravitational bodies. They would need the right gravitational bodies to be aligned but they would only need a fraction of time out of millions upon millions of years to detect us. This brings up the question that Dr. Fermi asked while eating lunch at a Los Alamos cafeteria a few miniscule decades ago, "So where are all the aliens?

[Cuix]

Humans probably couldn't do it, no. When we're all spacefaring ageless super robots, though...

[plcflame]

Awesome!

A not related question, someone can answer me why the speed of light is 300.000km/s and not more or less?

[chrisvandijk]

don't wanna sound pedantic, but the Borg only occupy and control a section of 1 quadrant of the milky way. So no the Borg cannot either ;-). Basically no where near multiple galaxies !

[StarTalk]

New Video: Can gravity bend space, creating a cosmic “magnifying lens” that could allow us to see further into the universe? Watch astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson explain gravitational lensing, space telescopes & Einstein’s prediction to comic co-host Eugene Mirman: Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains Gravitational Lensing

[ezekielfernandez]

isn't the bending of space = gravity? not bending of space is a result of gravity?

[Sold_a_dummy]

Ok. This one lost me. Maybe I'm tired. 

[ryanyon]

the highest temp. ever known is 275 kelvin

[MrGooglevideoviewer]

wow... he got that one wrong didn't he 🤣🤣

[AdmiralQuality]

Actually Neil, are there not viable ideas about putting a telescope in the Kuiper belt that uses our own sun as a lens? And I don't think anyone ever mistook the clearly distorted galaxies revealed by gravitational lensing for galaxies. When was the first seen? By Hubble? Didn't we already know of or at least anticipate the phenomenon by then? (Of course we did. Einstein predicted it for the 1919 eclipse.)

(It's really sad that me, a software musical instrument and effect maker, knows more about this than you.)