Euclid telescope prepares for voyage to create largest 3D map of the cosmos

[Rick]

Euclid telescope prepares for voyage to create largest 3D map of the cosmos

Final preparations are under way to launch a space telescope that aims to produce the largest, most accurate 3D map of the cosmos and unravel the dark forces that shape it.

The European Space Agency's €1bn (£862m) Euclid probe will observe more than a third of the sky and billions of galaxies to shed light on the mysterious dark matter and dark energy that together account for 95% of the universe.

"It's one of the biggest questions in science," said Prof Isobel Hook, an astrophysicist on the mission at the Lancaster University. "We don't know what the whole fabric of the universe is and that is huge. It's our origins. It's fundamental."

More: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jun/30/euclid-telescope-3d-map-cosmos-space-probe-european-space-agency-dark-universe

[Rick]

Europe's Euclid telescope launches to figure out dark energy, the universe, and everything

Euclid, an advanced telescope built by the European Space Agency to study the nature of dark energy and dark matter, blasted off into space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Saturday.

The rocket launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 1112 ET (1512 UTC) carrying the 4.5-metre-tall (15 foot) instrument packed tightly in its nose cone. The goal is to give Euclid a boost into the second Lagrange point (L2), a region 1.5 million kilometres (1 million miles) away from Earth where the Sun's gravitational pull will ensure a stable position.

More: https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/01/euclid_dark_energy_telescope_launch/

[Rick]

Euclid telescope lifts off in search of the secrets of dark universe

A European-built orbital satellite was launched into space on Saturday from Florida on a mission to shed new light on dark energy and dark matter, the mysterious cosmic forces scientists say account for 95% of the known universe.

The Euclid telescope, named for the ancient Greek mathematician known as the "father of geometry", was carried in the cargo bay of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket which blasted off about 11am EDT (1500 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Space Force station. A live stream of the liftoff was shown on Nasa TV.

New insights from the $1.4bn (£1.1bn) European Space Agency (Esa) mission, designed to last at least six years, are expected to transform astrophysics and perhaps our understanding of the nature of gravity.

More: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jul/01/euclid-telescope-lifts-off-in-search-of-the-secrets-of-dark-universe

[Rick]

After fears that Europe's space scope was toast, its first images look mighty fine

Astronomers are breathing a sigh of relief that the 600-megapixel Euclid wide-angle space telescope's instruments appear to be working well, despite discovering a gap in the orbiter's hull that allowed sunlight to leak through and contaminate some images.

Launched a month ago, Euclid will snap billions of galaxies to help astronomers piece together the largest three-dimensional map of the universe. The telescope hasn't yet started its official observations – studying the impacts of dark matter and dark energy – but the European Space Agency has successfully tested the spacecraft's instruments.

The latest images, captured by its VISible instrument (VIS) and Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP), show the shapes of faraway galaxies covering a small region of the sky. They prove that Euclid is working well, according to Carole Mundell, ESA's director of science.

More: https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/02/euclid_telescope_test_images/

[Rick]

Software patch fixes Euclid space telescope navigation bug

The European Space Agency's Euclid space telescope is back to normal and will resume its mission, thanks to a software update that was required after its navigation sensors mistakenly identified solar ray signals as stars.

Launched in July, the billion-euro observatory designed to study dark energy and dark matter, successfully reached its target destination, a region 1.5 million kilometers (1 million miles) away from Earth, to enter a stable orbit following our planet around the Sun.

But shortly after its instruments were deployed and it snapped a first picture a month later, mission control discovered the telescope was failing to focus on stars. Squiggly lines and circles captured in another image revealed that Euclid was looping around and struggling to lock onto distant stars to keep it steady during its observations.

More: https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/11/euclid_software_patch/

[Rick]

Euclid space telescope needs de-icing

Less than 12 months into its six-year survey mission, the European Space Agency's (ESA) Euclid telescope is experiencing optical issues that require European teams to devise a de-icing procedure.

ESA described the problem as common – water absorbed from the air during assembly is being released now that the spacecraft is in the vacuum of space.

The ice layers are currently only the width of a strand of DNA, but they are disrupting Euclid's observations, meaning teams need to come up with a new procedure to de-ice the optics.

So what to do? Typically, engineers would turn on the heaters and spend a few days increasing the spacecraft's temperature from approximately -140°C to -3°C. However, while this would clear the optics, there is also the risk that Euclid's optical alignment could be affected as the spacecraft cools back down.

More: https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/euclid_space_telescope_deicing/

[Rick]

Intricate mission to de-ice a space telescope is go: Euclid's 'eye' is clear

Boffins at the European Space Agency (ESA) are very pleased with themselves following confirmation that the de-icing process they devised for Euclid's optics has "performed significantly better than hoped."

Launched in 2023, the optics of the Euclid spacecraft have suffered from an accumulation of water ice. While the thickness of the ice was measured in nanometers, scientists could detect its impact through the drop in light observed from distant galaxies.

Due to the finely calibrated instruments onboard, simply heating up the spacecraft to get rid of the ice wasn't an option. Instead, engineers devised an approach in which each mirror would be heated in turn, and observations would be made to see what, if any, impact was made on light coming into the spacecraft.

The team wasn't even sure which of the mirrors was causing the problem but reckoned there was a good chance it was the first mirror they planned to heat.

More: https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/26/euclid_space_telescope_deicing_declared/