European Space Telescope Euclid launched from Cape Canaveral
Juli 02, 2023 12:21
SpaceX launched the European space telescope Euclid from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Saturday around 5:12 PM Dutch time. The European Space Agency ESA wants to use Euclid to investigate dark matter and dark energy from the universe.
The space telescope is according to the ESA equipped with a reflecting telescope with a diameter of 1.2 meters a visible-wavelength camera that can make razor-sharp images of the universe and a near-infrared spectrometer. These sensors will be used to analyze billions of galaxies up to 10 billion light years away. The resulting data should result in a three-dimensional map of the universe in which the third dimension forms time itself.
With this map the ESA wants to gain more insight into how matter has spread in space and how the expansion of the universe has gone through history. Through all this the scientists also want to learn more about dark energy and dark matter and better understand how gravity works in space.
The Euclid telescope is not yet operational. It will take another four weeks for the telescope to reach its destination in space. Once the satellite has arrived scientists and engineers will perform tests to verify that all functions of the space telescope are working and then activate the scientific instruments. This is followed by a period of two months during which the sensors are calibrated. Euclid will be active for six years.
