It’s been more than a year since ESA’s Euclid satellite, like the James Webb Space Telescope, orbited the Lagrange point L2. The new images show that it is capable of probing the secrets of the observable universe and revealing, perhaps, the nature of matter and dark energy.
Hubert Reeves sadly left us on October 13, 2023. Of course he had time to watch the launch.EuclidEuclidthe Space telescopeSpace telescope OfEuropean Space AgencyEuropean Space Agency which went into orbit around the Lagrange point L2 of the Earth-Sun system in July 2023. But they are no longer around to see the images, which were revealed today by ESA during the International Astronautical Congress (IAC, 14-18 October) in Milan.
Note that if Euclid is working with his instruments in the visible and infrared domains, the formation of stars, globular clusters and The galaxiesThe galaxies Native, we expect great scientific progress in the nature of this.Dark energyDark energy And Dark matterDark matter.
The first observable determines the fate of the universe, whether it will end in a “great tear” (in English: Big ripBig rip)) or a Big crunchBig crunch For example?
Second, if it really exists, it explains why we see galaxies so quickly.UniverseUniverse observable and hence why they could have been sites of rapid chemical evolution that concentrated in the interstellar medium elements such as CarbonCarboniOxygenOxygeniNitrogenNitrogenBut this too ferferthe MagnesiumMagnesium And SiliconSilicon which allowed the emergence of living forms. SilicatesSilicates Formation of rocks Terrestrial planetsTerrestrial planets Of solar systemsolar system Like Earth and Mars.
Interacting galaxies millions of light years away
No scientific conclusions on these questions are yet available with the images that the members of the Euclid collaboration – 2,600 people in 18 countries – present to us today. But they reflect the tremendous potential of the telescope to surprise us with images of the empire. NebulaNebula outside of us The Milky WayThe Milky WayTo use the fictional title of Edwin Hubble’s work that first revealed its nature.
Thus we can consider the first images that will form a large map of the universe, the first of which will consist of a mosaic of 208 gigapixels, as explained in a press release from the CEA heavily involved in the Euclid mission. is The same press release further states that “ Thanks to an agreement between CEA and ESA, Jean-Charles Cuillandre and Emmanuel Bertin, two AstronomersAstronomers Members of the Observatory of Sciences of the Paris Saclay (OSUPS) and the DepartmentAstrophysicsAstrophysics CEA produced this mosaic under the direct supervision of ESA… This is the first time that such a comprehensive picture of the sky has been produced in this way. ResolutionResolution From space, predicting future outcomes of this space mission ».
Already 14 million galaxies and galaxy clusters have been observed.
“This first part of the mapping of the universe already makes it possible to characterize. the lightthe light About 14 million galaxies, among the billion galaxies, will be used to study the hidden effects of dark matter and dark energy on the universe. This segment also consists of tens of millions.The starsThe stars of our Milky Way. »
The CEA press release ends by stating that “ More data will come in March 2025 with the launch of the 50 square degree Euclid survey, which includes an assessment of the Euclid deep field regions. The mission’s first year of cosmological data will be reported in 2026. ».
Euclid Satellite 1 was launched.is July 2023 on a Falcon 9 rocket. Thanks to Euclid and its two instruments, VIS and NISP, the international community hopes to clarify the nature of dark matter and dark energy. David Elbaz, a CEA astrophysicist, has been working for Euclid for 10 years, co-heading the group developing the science for the analysis of galaxies. He tells us about the Euclid mission in this video. © CEA
” First results from the Euclid space telescope »: Conference of Tuesday 1stis October 2024 Contributed by Jean-Charles Cuillandre (CEA IRFU). © Institute of Astrophysics of Paris
