5 facts about European Space Agency's upcoming Euclid mission
What's the story
The European Space Agency (ESA) is set to launch the Euclid mission on July 1, as per the current schedule.
The space telescope will provide insights into unexplored parts of the cosmos, specifically dark energy and dark matter. Both these entities are invisible and have been studied based on their effect on stars and galaxies.
Here we discuss key facts of the mission.
Objective
Euclid will conduct observations over one-third of the sky
Euclid will create the largest, most accurate 3D map of the universe, per ESA. It will observe over one-third of the sky, looking into the past 10 billion years of cosmic history.
Astronomers hope to better understand dark energy and dark matter based on the mission. Dark energy plays a role in the expansion of the universe, while dark matter holds galaxies in place.
Position
Euclid will share its location with James Webb Space Telescope
The Euclid spacecraft will be positioned at the L2 Lagrange point, which lies about 1.6 million kilometers from Earth. It shares the location with several other spacecraft including the James Webb Space Telescope.
From its vantage point, where the Earth, Moon, and the Sun always lie behind the spacecraft, Euclid would get unprecedented views of the vast cosmos.
Operations
It can produce four times sharper images than ground-based surveys
Over the course of the mission, Euclid will survey 15,000 square degrees of sky.
The mission will perform investigations in what's called a "step and stare" mode, wherein it will focus and measure roughly 0.5 square degrees of the sky at a time.
The mission will be capable of producing four times sharper images compared to ground-based surveys.
Design
The Euclid spacecraft measures about 2,100kg
In terms of size, Euclid is considerably smaller than the James Webb telescope. The spacecraft measures about 2,100kg, 14.7 feet in height, and 10.2 feet in width.
The mission will be equipped with two main instruments to perform science investigations, namely a visible imager (VIS), and the Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP). The latter will provide near-infrared photometry of galaxies.
Launch
The mission is expected to operate for about six years
The Euclid mission will take off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida on July 1.
It will take roughly 30 days for the spacecraft to reach its target destination, the L2 point.
The mission is expected to operate for at least six years. The estimated cost of the mission is said to be €1 billion.