The European Space Agency's (ESA) Euclid telescope has captured its first test images, and the results are nothing short of stunning. The images show galaxies in unprecedented detail, and they offer a tantalizing glimpse of what the mission is capable of.
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| Early commissioning test image – VIS instrument. Credit: European Space Agency |
Euclid is a space telescope designed to study the evolution of the universe. It will map billions of galaxies, and it will use this data to study dark matter and dark energy. The first test images show that Euclid is well on its way to achieving its scientific goals.
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| Early commissioning test image – VIS instrument full field of view and zoom in for detail. Credit: European Space Agency |
The images were taken using Euclid's two instruments: the VISible instrument (VIS) and the Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP). VIS takes sharp images of galaxies in visible light, while NISP measures the amount of light that galaxies emit at various wavelengths.
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| Early commissioning test image – NISP instrument. Credit: European Space Agency |
The VIS image shows a small patch of sky, but it is packed with detail. The image shows several galaxies, as well as stars and other objects. The NISP images show even more detail, and they reveal the distribution of galaxies throughout the universe.
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| Early commissioning test image – NISP instrument full field of view and zoom in for detail. Credit: European Space Agency |
The first test images are just a taste of what Euclid is capable of. Over the next few months, ESA will continue to test the telescope and its instruments. Once the mission is fully commissioned, Euclid will begin its survey of the universe.
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| Early commissioning test image – NISP instrument (grism mode). Credit: European Space Agency |
The first science images from Euclid are expected to be released in 2024. These images will provide a new and unprecedented view of the universe, and they will help us to understand the evolution of the cosmos.
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