Two instruments on board Euclid have taken their first test images. The results show that the space telescope will achieve the scientific goals for which it was designed and possibly much more.
The mission will delve into some of the biggest mysteries of our Universe, including the nature of dark matter and why the expansion of the Universe is accelerating. Scientists call the force behind this accelerated expansion “dark energy”.
Euclid launched on July 1 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It arrived at its destination about 1 million miles from Earth, at a vantage point known as the second Lagrange point (L2).
“We’re very pleased to see that the NASA-provided detectors and other equipment are working as expected, and incredibly excited about the science results that will emerge in the coming months and years,” said Mike Seiffert, project scientist for the NASA contribution to Euclid at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
Given these test images, the scientists and engineers behind the mission are confident that the telescope and instruments are working well. Mission specialists will continue to test performance over the next few months before scientific observations begin.
“After more than 11 years of designing and developing Euclid, it is exciting and extremely emotional to see these first images,” says Euclid Project Manager Giuseppe Racca of ESA.
According to him, the fully calibrated Euclid will observe billions of galaxies to create the largest ever 3D map of the starry sky.
