In a significant scientific endeavor, the European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope has been launched on a million-mile journey to map the mysteries of the dark universe. Named after the ancient Greek mathematician, Euclid will spend six years traversing space, observing billions of galaxies to shed light on two of the universe’s greatest enigmas: dark energy and dark matter.
The Euclid space telescope was propelled into space atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 4:12 PM UK time on Saturday. It is expected to take approximately a month to reach its destination, known as the second Lagrange point, a stable location where the gravitational forces of the Earth and the sun are roughly equal.
The United Kingdom has made a substantial contribution of £37 million toward the £850 million mission. British scientists have played crucial roles in designing and constructing the two-tonne probe and leading one of the two scientific instruments on board. The visible imager (VIS), one of the largest cameras ever sent into space, was developed by UK scientists. The other instrument, a near-infrared spectrometer and photometer was developed in France.
Scientists hope that the Euclid mission will provide insights into the nature of dark energy, which is responsible for the accelerating expansion of the universe over time. Additionally, the mission aims to unlock the secrets of dark matter, which consists of particles that do not interact with light. Dark energy is estimated to constitute roughly 68% of the universe, while dark matter accounts for about 27%. Ordinary matter, including everything on Earth and all observed matter, makes up less than 5% of the universe, according to NASA.
Euclid will utilize a phenomenon called gravitational lensing to capture high-quality images. Gravitational lensing occurs when matter acts as a magnifying glass, bending and distorting light from galaxies and clusters located behind it. By scrutinizing the dark universe and studying these gravitational lensing effects, scientists hope to gain a deeper understanding of the universe’s expansion and composition.
Josef Aschbacher, the Director General of the European Space Agency, expressed his delight with Euclid’s successful launch and the prospect of collecting data on dark energy and dark matter. More than 2,000 scientists across Europe have been involved in the mission, from its inception to its construction and subsequent analysis.
The Euclid mission represents a significant step forward in our quest to comprehend the mysteries of the universe. With its cutting-edge technology and six-year journey ahead, Euclid has the potential to unveil groundbreaking discoveries that will shape our understanding of the cosmos.
