Which way to the next frontier? Finding the most powerful cluster lenses
Abstract
While the identification of a worthy topic or challenge is fundamental to the goal of conducting cutting-edge research, another ingredient is indispensable in the field of observational astronomy: the best possible target. Indeed, the ability to choose from a significant number of extremely powerful gravitational lenses was central to the success of the Frontier Fields project. We here briefly review the surveys that provided this crucial pool of targets, before focusing on the results of ongoing work to identify similarly extreme (if not more extreme) systems at higher redshift for the exploration of a yet more distant extragalactic frontier - with JWST and other, evermore ambitious missions.
- Publication:
-
IAU Focus Meeting
- Pub Date:
- 2016
- DOI:
- 10.1017/S1743921316006724
- Bibcode:
- 2016IAUFM..29B.755E
- Keywords:
-
- gravitational lensing;
- surveys;
- galaxies: clusters: general;
- X-rays: galaxies: clusters