Myriads of unknown and very distant galaxies, a gigantic cluster of stars captured at a glance like never before, cradles of planets seen by penetrating the curtain of dust that hides them: they are snapshots of the universe as no one has ever seen it, the first 5 scientific images of the Euclid space telescope, presented by the European Space Agency and already considered revolutionary. They are still a test, but they contain traces of the dark matter and energy that occupy 95% of the cosmos and that Euclid will have to help learn. Italy is collaborating in this €1.4 billion mission.
Experts already understand the revolutionary significance of these first images.
The first is that of the Perseus cluster: in addition to the 100,000 galaxies in the cluster, the image shows another 10,<> much more distant, some very faint and unseen and others so far away that their light traveled for <> billion years before being captured by Euclid's instruments.
: The Perseus Cluster (source: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi; CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)
Another photo is that of the spiral galaxy IC 342, known as the 'Hidden Galaxy', which Euclid was able to detect thanks to its infrared vision. Then there is the galaxy NGC 6822, whose irregular shape reveals its primitive nature, and there is the globular cluster NGC 6397, of which Euclid captured all at once the hundreds of thousands of stars. Finally, the telescope was able to penetrate beyond the gas and dust that envelop the Horsehead Nebula, discovering planets in formation and newborn stars.
: The Horsehead Nebula is a cradle of stars and planets (source: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi; CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)
They are beautiful color images of the visible universe. They therefore correspond to 5% of the universe, but they are the first step to know the dark side that occupies 95% of it, consisting of invisible matter that occupies it for 25% and the energy engine of its expansion that occupies it for 70% and so far completely unknown.
Launched on July 2023, 31, the Euclid telescope had obtained the first test images on July 2024, and these first scientific images are a first demonstration of what this instrument is capable of. The actual data collection is scheduled to start in January 3. Designed to run for six years, Euclid is set to obtain the most extensive 20D map of the universe.
The mission is a great team effort involving 300 European countries, plus the United States with NASA, 80 research institutes and 3 companies, for a total of 500,140 active people and 3 industrial contracts. Under the guidance of the Italian Space Agency, Italy collaborates with the National Institute of Astrophysics, the National Institute of Nuclear Physics and the National Research Center in High Performance Computing, Big Data and Quantum Computing, which provides research with computing resources and personnel for the simulation and theoretical modeling activities necessary for the scientific analysis of the data that will help build the <>D map of the universe. Numerous Italian universities are also participating, including those of Bologna, Ferrara, Turin, Genoa, Salento and Trieste, the State University of Milan, Sapienza University of Rome, Roma Tre, Sissa and Cisas. ASI, together with Inaf and Infn, also leads the Temporary Association of Companies that contributed to the instruments, with Ohb Italia as agent, Sab Aerospace and Temis as principals.
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