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Cosmology

Supercomputers

Supercomputers are types of computers which work together to act quickly. 

They are often called high-performance machines. This is because they are able to process data a million times faster than the best desktop computers. 

Rows of black cabinets housing the Frontier supercomputer, with blue and red cables neatly organized along the sides. The environment features a clean, industrial look with overhead yellow cable trays and visible ventilation systems
This work by OLCF at ORNL is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
The Frontier Supercomputer in the USA

The Big Bang

The Big Bang is the explanation for how the Universe started.

Astronomers think that everything started in a single point. Then everything expanded and stretched to grow into the huge Universe we see today.

An illustration of a white explosion on a black background.
This work by Pixabay is licensed under Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal

The Universe

Cosmology is the study of the Universe. It doesn't look at small objects, like stars or planets. It investigates the Universe on a large scale.

Many, many galaxies against a black background. Some are tiny dots, and they range in size all the way up to small spheres or swirls. They have different shapes, some more spiraled than others, whilst some appear like smudged lines. They range in colour from red, orange, white, green, and blue.
This work by NASA/ESA/G. Illingworth/D. Magee/P. Oesch (University of California, Santa Cruz)/R. Bouwens (Leiden University)/HUDF09 Team is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
The Hubble eXtreme Deep Field (XDF). Covering an area less than 1/10 of the Moon's width, the image contains about 5,500 galaxies.

Gravitational Lensing

Space is not flat. It is 3D, and we say that everything in it is held together on an imaginary surface we call spacetime. The idea of spacetime was put forward in Einstein's theory of relativity.

A white meshed grid against a black background. Three spheres of different size and mass sit on the grid, appearing to distort the grid beneath it. The largest sphere is yellow and causes the most distortion, with the next smallest being orange that causes less distortion. A red sphere is the smallest, with the mesh around it barely being distorted.
This work by ESA–C.Carreau is licensed under Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal
Artists impression visualising space-time being distorted by three spheres with different masses. 

Edwin Hubble

Occupation

Astronomer, Cosmologist

Year born

1889

Research Areas

Galaxies, Extra-galactic astronomy, Observational cosmology

 

A black and white photograph of Edwin Hubble. He is sat at his desk, facing the camera, holding an image of a galaxy in his hands.
This work by Encyclopædia Britannica is licensed under All rights reserved

Mario Hamuy

Early Life

Mario was born in Chile. Although his dad was a politician Mario found a love for science. He got degrees in physics and astronomy from the University of Chile. 

Year born: 1960

Research Areas: Observational Astronomy, Supernovae, Cosmic Distances

 

Carlos Frenk

Early Life

Carlos was born in Mexico. He is the son of a German-Jewish immigrant father and a Mexican-Spanish mother. Half of Carlos’ family are musicians, the other half are doctors. Carlos was interested in maths and nature when he was young. He did not feel that music or medicine would suit him. Carlos has an undergraduate degree in physics from the University of Mexico. He started off studying engineering. He switched to physics when he realised that he was more interested in “why things work?” than “how?”.

Year born: 1951

Research Areas: Supercomputer Simulations, Galaxy Formation

 

"Scientists are sceptics. But the main thing is you have to be a rebel, because otherwise you don’t contribute to new ideas."