By Harald Ebeling, astronomer at Ihilo Institute of Astronomy, Hawaii.
My work revolves around the study of galaxy clusters and their constituents: dark matter, the intra-cluster medium, and galaxies. I am primarily interested in the most massive clusters in the Universe and have specialized in finding these rare objects through their X-ray emission. Giant clusters offer spectacular opportunities to investigate a huge range of extragalactic science, from violent galaxy evolution by ram-pressure stripping, through the dynamics of dark-matter collisions, to the properties of the first generation of galaxies, revealed by gravitational lensing.
I am a heavy user of 8m-class telescopes on Maunakea, HST, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Other interests of mine include teaching (high-school to graduate level) and long-distance running.
SMACSJ0723, an exceptionally massive concentration of galaxies, was first pinpointed by IfA researchers nearly 20 years ago. (Photo credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI)
As soon as the first images captured by the James Webb telescope were published in July 2022, we started to produce a report where the sky describers entered the scene. Astronomers, astrophysicists, instrument specialists, data analysts, all have exposed their contribution to the exploration of the sky, their fascination in front of the immensity of the cosmos and the questions that remain unanswered. This video is part of a series made in Hawaii and on the West Coast of the United States.