What To Know
- Launched in July 2022, the Euclid telescope is a space mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) dedicated to the study of the black matter and dark energy.
- Euclid aims to reveal the distribution of dark matter by observing the gravitational effects it exerts on the light of galaxiesDark energy, responsible for the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe, will be studied by analyzing how this expansion varies over timeTo do this, the telescope will create a detailed three-dimensional map of the Universe by measuring the shapes, positions and distances of millions of galaxies up to about ten billion light years.
- This first catalog of images was produced in a single day and contains more than eleven million objects in visible light and five million more in infrared light.
ESA’s Euclid mission has released five new images of the Universe. These unprecedented observations demonstrate the telescope’s ability to explore the mysteries of the cosmos.
The observatory that could change everything
Launched in July 2022, the Euclid telescope is a space mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) dedicated to the study of the black matter and dark energy. And for good reason, if these two components represent almost 95% of everything that makes up the Universewe have almost no idea what it is. Specifically, Euclid aims to reveal the distribution of dark matter by observing the gravitational effects it exerts on the light of galaxiesDark energy, responsible for the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe, will be studied by analyzing how this expansion varies over timeTo do this, the telescope will create a detailed three-dimensional map of the Universe by measuring the shapes, positions and distances of millions of galaxies up to about ten billion light years. The mission team has just shared its first scientific publication. This first catalog of images was produced in a single day and contains more than eleven million objects in visible light and five million more in infrared light. Euclid is a unique and revolutionary mission, and these are the first datasets to be made public. This is an important milestone “, declared Valeria Pettorino, ESA Euclid project scientist. The images and associated scientific discoveries are incredibly diverse in terms of objects and distances observed. They enable a variety of scientific applications, and yet represent only 24 hours of observations. This is just a glimpse of what Euclid is capable of. We look forward to seeing the next six years of data! »
Some of the photos published
The photo below shows us the cluster Abell 2390in the center, surrounded by thousands of galaxies further away in the Universe.
Credits: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi; CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO This photo shows us this time the cluster Abell 2764top right, also surrounded by thousands of galaxies.
Credits: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi; CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO This image shows us the merger of two galaxies that are part of the Dorade group. We then observe the shells and tails of these objects interacting.
Credits: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi; CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO Finally, this photo shows us the star formation region Messier 78 in the constellation Orion.
Credits: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi; CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO These images are not only visually extraordinary: they will help astronomers unlock the secrets of the distribution of matter and the expansion of the Universe. Euclid is clearly living up to its promise, and we can’t wait to see what comes next.
