ESA publishes first data from the Euclid space telescope
Published: Thursday, May 23rd 2024, 12:10
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The European Space Agency (ESA) published the first scientific results of the Euclid space telescope on Thursday. They are based on five images that were taken in just one day.
In just 24 hours, the telescope registered over eleven million objects in visible light and a further five million in infrared light, as the ESA wrote in a press release on the mission, in which Swiss institutions are also involved.
These initial discoveries by Euclid include newborn, free-floating planets, newly discovered extragalactic star clusters and the discovery of very distant, bright galaxies. For the ESA, the newly published images and data are just "a small taste of what Euclid can do."
"Time for progress"
Francesca Lepori from the University of Zurich (UZH) shares this view. The researcher is involved in the Euclid mission "This is the time to make progress in cosmology," Lepori told the Keystone-SDA news agency. Euclid will make it possible to study things that have never been studied before.
Swiss researchers were not directly involved in the analysis of these images. According to Lepori, the Swiss research projects do not focus on individual objects, but on the larger images that Euclid will provide.
The aim of the mission is to create the most comprehensive 3D map of the universe to date. The probe will collect data on billions of galaxies. "Ultimately, we want to use this to reconstruct the history of the universe," said Lepori. ESA wants to use Euclid to research the development of the universe over the last ten billion years. It also aims to gain insights into dark matter and dark energy in space.
Swiss expertise
The Euclid probe was launched into space at the beginning of July 2023. At its heart is a high-resolution telescope equipped with two cameras - one for the visible wavelength range and one for the near-infrared range.
In addition to UZH, the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) and the University of Geneva (Unige) are also involved in the Euclid mission from Switzerland.
For example, parts of the "Visible Instrument" measuring device were developed in Switzerland. This is a high-resolution camera that observes visible light in space.
Swiss institutions are also involved when it comes to software: The FHNW contributed the software infrastructure that enables the management and distribution of large quantities of space data via a global data network.
©Keystone/SDA
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