2023-07-02 19:05:46
The European space telescope “Euclid” set out to explore two of the most important mysteries of astronomy, namely dark matter and dark energy. Although they represent 95% of the size of the universe, information is completely insufficient regarding their nature and composition, so what do we really know regarding them? What is dark energy? We know how much dark energy there is, with our understanding of its role in the expansion of the universe. Otherwise, all the rest are talismans. Solving this puzzle is really important, as it turns out that approximately 68% of the universe is dark energy, while dark matter makes up regarding 27%. The remainder of our universe, which includes everything on Earth, and all natural matter, makes up less than 5% of the universe. Dark energy is very mysterious, and its discovery in the 1990s came as a complete shock to scientists. Previously, physicists had assumed that the force of gravity would slow the expansion of the universe over time, but when two independent teams tried to measure the rate of deceleration, they found that the expansion was, in fact, accelerating! One scientist likened the discovery to throwing a bunch of keys in the air expecting them to fall back, only to see them fly straight up toward the ceiling. Scientists now believe that the accelerating expansion of the universe is driven by a kind of repulsive force generated by quantum fluctuations in “empty” space. In fact, the force seems to increase as the universe expands. For lack of a better name, scientists call this mysterious force dark energy. Unlike dark matter, scientists have no plausible explanation for this energy. What is dark matter? Scientists are more certain of the nature of dark matter than energy, as they know that it is dark, that is, it is not similar to the stars and planets that we know, and observations taken from space show that there is very little visible matter in the universe, as it constitutes 27%, and one opinion describes it as matter It is composed of a group of particles called “baryons”, which absorb the radiation that passes through them, but what is the validity of this opinion? There remain several possibilities regarding the nature of dark matter. It is not known what kind of baryonic matter is capable of creating dark matter, but the most popular view is that dark matter is not baryonic, but is composed of other, more exotic particles. What regarding the future? The most important question here is how can a telescope see these invisible materials? This will happen by studying light, seen from distant objects, as it diffracts through the path of visible and dark matter to its point of view. David Elbaz, a member of the “Euclidean” union, explains that observing distortions in the history of the universe will allow an understanding of the behavior of dark energy, which will help in understanding the shape of galaxies and black holes, considering this discovery as a “gold mine for astrophysics.” As for the cost of this trip, it amounts to 1.5 billion euros. It is expected that Euclid will send its first images in October, with basic missions that it will carry out in the years 2025, 2027 and 2029. This trip may be prolonged if needed.
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