Nina Droff, edited by Yanis Darras 07:05 February 22, 2023, modified at 07:37 February 22, 2023
The European Space Agency (ESA) presented its new Euclid space telescope on Tuesday, which is scheduled to go into space next summer. Aim for the latter: unraveling the mystery of “dark matter”, an essential element in our universe, and better understanding why the universe is expanding.
Why is the universe growing? The question fascinates scientists and space enthusiasts. To understand this fact a little better, the European Space Agency is launching its new flagship: the Euclid telescope, an equivalent of James Webb’s American telescope. The aim of the new happy European space: to decipher the mysteries of dark matter.
Understand dark matter better
An enigmatic dark matter that makes up more than a quarter of the universe and yet remains a real mystery to researchers. With its 1.2 meter diameter mirror and its precision, the Euclid telescope will be able to observe it and even determine how it has evolved over the past ten billion years.
With this little technological gem unveiled in Cannes this week, “we will be able to map ancient dark matter and figure out how it was distributed in the universe. It will also help us understand what this dark matter really is. because we don’t know at the moment,” project manager Giuseppe Racca told Europe 1.
A soon-to-be map of the universe?
Valuable data that could, in the short term, enable the realization of a new 3D map of the universe. “After just a few months in space, Euclid will have observed more galaxies than any other mission or observatory to date. It will be of great service to us in cosmology and astronomy,” says the scientist.
Next step for the telescope: Leaving Earth next July aboard a Space X rocket, which will launch from Florida before beginning its mission, which will last nearly six years.