Tue, April 21, 2026
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Hybrid: PRB 4138 & Zoom
Title: Mapping Dark Matter from the Stratosphere: A First-of-Its-Kind Weak-Lensing Mission (SuperBIT)
Speaker: Sayan Saha (Northeastern)
Abstract:
I will present results from the Super Pressure Balloon-borne Imaging Telescope (SuperBIT), a first-of-its-kind stratospheric weak-lensing mission targeting ~30 merging galaxy clusters. SuperBIT paves the way for space-quality imaging at orders of magnitude lower cost than traditional space telescopes, offering a promising model for future weak-lensing surveys. I will briefly describe the galaxy-shape measurement pipeline we developed (arXiv:2603.18376), highlight key systematics, and show preliminary convergence maps of several clusters - the first weak-lensing mass reconstructions from the stratosphere.