Euclid Space Telescope Launches to Map the Dark Universe.

The Euclid space telescope launched on July 1, 2023, on a mission to map the dark universe. The telescope is designed to observe billions of galaxies out to 10 billion light-years, across more than a third of the sky. With this data, Euclid will help scientists to understand the nature of dark energy and dark matter, which make up about 95% of the universe.

An artist’s impression of the Euclid mission in space. Credit: ESA.

Euclid is the largest space telescope ever built to study the dark universe. It is equipped with two instruments: a visible light camera and a near-infrared spectrometer. The camera will take images of billions of galaxies, while the spectrometer will measure the redshift of the galaxies, which can be used to determine their distance.

Euclid will observe the galaxies in a variety of ways, including their shape, size, and brightness. This data will be used to create a 3D map of the universe, which will show how the universe has expanded and how its structure has evolved over cosmic history. The 3D map will also help scientists to understand the role of dark energy and dark matter in the universe. Dark energy is thought to be responsible for the accelerating expansion of the universe, while dark matter is thought to be responsible for the formation of galaxies and clusters of galaxies.

Euclid's mission is expected to last for six and a half years. During that time, it will collect more data about the dark universe than any other telescope before it. This data will help scientists to answer some of the most fundamental questions about the universe, such as what dark energy and dark matter are and how they work.

The launch of Euclid is a major milestone in the quest to understand the dark universe. The telescope's data will provide scientists with unprecedented insights into these mysterious phenomena, and it could lead to major breakthroughs in our understanding of the universe.