Euclid: discover the first very promising images revealed by the European space telescope

2023-08-03 18:30:00

Europe’s Euclid space telescope, which aims to study dark matter and dark energy in the Universe, has reached its vantage point and revealed this week his first test images. These images were taken in order to verify the operation of the scientific instruments and to calibrate them. They are therefore not yet representative of the final capacities of the telescope.

But they already indicate that it will be able to fulfill its objectives, the European Space Agency (ESA) said in a statement. taken up by our colleagues from Parisian. “After more than 11 years designing and developing Euclid, it is exhilarating and very moving to see these first images,” said Giuseppe Racca, Euclid Mission Manager at ESA.

A long trip

After taking off from Florida on July 1, the European telescope, in which NASA also participated, traveled to its destination, located approximately 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. Euclid has two onboard instruments: a Visible Light (VIS) Imager and a Near Infrared (NISP) Spectrometer. The first must determine the precise shape of the galaxies, the second their distance.

However, when they were turned on, scientists got a big scare: the images were “contaminated” by an unexpected light source, explains the ESA. Research into the cause of the problem “indicated that sunlight was leaking into the craft, probably through a small opening”, the European agency explained.

However, “by turning Euclid, the teams realized that this light was only detected at certain orientations, so by avoiding certain angles, the VIS instrument will be able to carry out its mission”, assured the ESA.

What objectives for Euclid?

The telescope will allow precise measurements concerning the distribution of galaxies and the expansion of the Universe. The distant galaxies observed will allow us to go back in time up to 10 billion years old, the time it takes for their light to reach us. The hope is that Euclid will be able to detect the traces left by dark matter and dark energy as galaxies form.

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