GovWire

The Euclid space telescope will map the dark Universe by observing billions of galaxies out to 10 billion lightyears, across more than a third of the sky, to gather data on how its structure has formed over its cosmic history.

Led by the European Space Agency (ESA) and a consortium of 2,000 scientists across 16 countries, Euclid will spend six years venturing through space with two scientific instruments: a UK-built visible imager (VIS) that will become one of the largest cameras ever sent into space, and a near infrared spectrometer and photometer, developed in France.

Secretary of State for Science and Technology Chloe Smith said:

The launch of the Euclid mission is a truly significant moment. Backed by 37 million in UK funding and supported by our remarkable scientific talent and expertise, the mission will launch one of the largest cameras ever into space to look out across our universe.

The mission will gain unparalleled insight into the mysteries of how the Universe was formed, delivering ground-breaking discoveries that will redefine what we know about space.

Dr Paul Bate, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency, said:

Watching the launch of Euclid, I feel inspired by the years of hard work from thousands of people that go into space science missions, and the fundamental importance of discovery how we set out to understand and explore the Universe.

The UK Space Agencys 37 million investment in Euclid has supported world-class science on this journey, from the development of the ground segment to the build of the crucial visible imager instrument, which will help humanity begin to uncover the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy.

Euclid took off on board a SpaceX spacecraft from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 4.12pm (BST) on 1 July.

The UK Space Agencys funding goes back to 2010, up to 2024, and is divided between teams at University College London, The Open University, University of Cambridge, University of Edinburgh, University of Oxford, University of Portsmouth and Durham University.

All these institutions have contributed to the development and implementation of the Euclid UK Science Ground Segment (UKSGS), whichruns the Euclid data analysis. Led by the University of Edinburgh, which hosts Euclids UK Science Data Centre (SDC-UK), the UKSGS will process hundreds of petabytes of data over the next six years to produce maps of the galaxies and dark matter of the Universe.

The wider Euclid Consortium includes experts from 300 organisations across 13 European countries, the US, Canada and Japan.

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) also contributed to design and development work on Euclid instrumentation and provided funding to UK astronomy teams who will analyse the data returned from the mission, including studies on the physics responsible for the observed accelerated expansion of the Universe.

Executive Chair at STFC Professor Mark Thomson said:

Euclid will answer some of the biggest and most profound questions we have about the Universe and dark energy. Congratulations to everyone involved in the design, construction and launch of Euclid we are opening a new window on the cosmos.

This is a fantastic example of close collaboration between scientists, engineers, technicians, and astronomers across Europe working together to tackle some of the biggest questions in science.

Research funded by the UK Space Agency

University College London (MSSL and P&A) Design, build and testing of Euclids VIS optical camera (20.5 million)

UCL researchers have led on designing, building and testing the VIS optical camera, one of Euclids two instruments, working with teams at Open University as well as in France, Italy and Switzerland. The core electronics for the instrument, including its complex array of 36 CCDs (that convert photons into electrons), were built at UCLs Mullard Space Science Laboratory. The camera, one of the largest ever sent into space, will take high resolution, panoramic images of a large swathe of the Universe, going back 10 billion years and covering a third of the night sky.

Professor Benjamin Joachimi (UCL Physics & Astronomy) is also playing a key role in the ground-based part of the mission (the ground segment), converting Euclids raw data into statistical summaries that can be compared to our current theoretical models of the universe.

Professor Mark Cropper, leader of the VIS camera team at UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory, said:

The VIS instrument will image a large swathe of the distant Universe with almost the fine resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope, observing more of the Universe in one day than Hubble did in 25 years. The data will allow us to infer the distribution of dark matter across the Universe more precisely than ever before. The galaxies being imaged are up to 10 billion years old so we will also see how dark matter has evolved over most of the Universes history. The Universe on this scale has not yet been seen in this level of detail.

Professor Tom Kitching, one of four science co-ordinators for Euclid, said:

The puzzles we hope to address are fundamental. Are our models of the Universe correct? What is dark energy? Is it vacuum energy the energy of virtual particles popping in and out of existence in empty space? Is it a new particle field that we didnt expect? Or it may be Einsteins theory of gravity that is wrong. Whatever the answer, a revolution in physics is almost guaranteed.

University of Edinburgh (8.9 million)

Edinburgh has been involved in the design and build of Euclid from its earliest days - leading the Euclid gravitational lensing data analysis, the UK Data Science Analysis and host to the UKs Euclid Science Data Centre which will process hundreds of petabytes of data throughout the mission.

Professor Andy Taylor, leader of the gravitational lensing analysis for Euclid, the UKs Euclid Science Data Analysis and SDC-UK, said:

This is a very exciting time for astronomy, and cosmology in particular. Euclid is designed to answer some of the biggest questions we have about the Universe. It has been a lot of hard work by many scientists to get here, but the results could change how we understand nature.

Professor Alkistis Pourtsidou, leader of Euclids nonlinear modelling team said:

Euclid is going to provide a very large and very detailed 3D map of the Universe, across the sky and along time. This map is a remarkable achievement combining state-of-the-art science and engineering. We want to extract the maximum amount of information from it and use it to figure out how nature works at the most fundamental level.

Dr Alex Hall, deputy leader of the gravitational lensing science working group, said:

With the launch of Euclid begins an astronomical observing campaign that is amongst the most ambitious ever attempted. By imaging over a billion galaxies, Euclid will allow us to make a map of dark matter with unprecedented precision that will answer fundamental questions about our Universe. The next few years are going to be very exciting, and it is a privilege to be part of this incredible project.

University of Oxford Developing lensing signal measurement and correction for the effects of telescope and detectors on the data (2.1 million)

Oxfords Department of Physics has played a significant role in the lensing data analysis. As well as contributing to the development of the method used to measure the lensing signal, the team have specialised in correcting for the effects that the telescope and imaging detectors have on the data. No telescope system is perfect there is always some blurring and distortion of the images and Oxfords role has been not only to build the software models but also to devise ways of calibrating those models using dedicated in-orbit data from Euclid. These are crucial steps that allow the lensing measurements to be used to explore the dark side of our Universe.

Professor Lance Miller, leader of the work at the University of Oxford, said:

This is an incredibly exciting time. This space mission is the result of years of work and for us here in Oxford, that work continues as we put the finishing touches to the software that will be analysing some of the first Euclid data sent back to Earth, from August onwards. I have been working on Euclid since its inception, so to have reached this major milestone today is extraordinary. It is fantastic to be part of a mission that could play a fundamental role in our understanding of the Universe.



View the original news story