Jörg mostly works on galaxy clusters and gravitational lensing. He coordinates the work of like-minded people in the Cluster Lensing Science analysis group.It is one of the predictions of Einstein’s theory of General Relativity that light is bent when it passes massive objects. Galaxy clusters are the most massive objects in the Universe. By studying how light is deflected when it encounters such an object as it travels from distant galaxies to our telescope.
This enables us to measure how heavy these clusters are (up to 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg) and in turn tells us something about the history of the Universe.
We asked Jörg a few more questions — here’s what he had to say:
What is your favorite part about being a scientist?
I get to work with a lot very smart people from whom I have learned so much.
Do you have kids? Do they want to be scientists too?
I have a 6 months old son. Currently his interests are limited to fluid dynamics.
What do you think has been the most exciting advance in physics / astronomy in the last 10 years?
The discovery of gravitational waves, of course! It open a whole new window to the Universe and it is very hard to overstate the significance of it.
Any advice for aspiring scientists?
Do what you love. Work hard. Science takes more hard work than genius.