Astrophysics for People in a Hurry: MicroBlog 2

Reading this book has proven to be challenging for me, but through further research of some of the topics discussed, I have been able to better understand the text. For example, while reading I learned a bit about how gravity effects different things, and further researched the phenomena gravitational lensing. 

Gravitational Lensing:
In the book, Tyson continually talks about how gravity effects matter in the universe. He delves into Einstein's Theory of Relativity, and how gravity effects bigger things in space. Specifically he talks about how it effects light. He explains how since light is effected by gravity, it can alter our perceptions of things in the universe. This isn't necessarily a bad thing though, because it can also help us to see things in the universe we otherwise couldn't see. This is an effect called gravitational lensing. It is when light travels between two galaxies, and the light is altered in a way that magnifies it. Basically the galaxies' gravity creates a lens, and when light passes through the wave are intensified. This idea was really cool to me, and a little bit of outside research helped me to better understand it. It helps astronomers to see galaxies that we wouldn't be able to. It also can give us many different images of the same event (such as a supernova) because the lens causing the light wave to disperse and go in different directions.
In the picture, the circle to the right is earth, and the light waves are coming from the right. As they pass through the galaxy cluster, they are distorted, and the gravity of the cluster is what creates the lens.

     This is just one of the examples of ideas from the book that has led to further research. While reading this nonfiction book, I have discovered that by stop to look stuff up and taking my time reading, I can really get more out of it and enjoy it more.