Europe's Euclid space telescope has released its first images
Two University of Portsmouth experts who worked on Euclid, the European Space Agency’s six-year mission to map the dark universe, have reacted to the first full-colour images of the cosmos released today.
Dr Seshadri Nadathur is an Ernest Rutherford Fellow from the University’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation. He has been working on coordinating the University’s Euclid work within the wider European team.
He said: “These fantastic images demonstrate the power of the Euclid telescope. There are many challenges to operating a telescope in space – some known, but also some unforeseen ones that arose after launch! The quality of these early data show the team has been successfully able to overcome all of them to produce some stunning images.
Euclid data will fundamentally change our view of the Universe, and it is great to be part of that adventure.
“We are all very pleased that Euclid is working so well, and we are very excited to see the data from the main survey operations starting next year. Euclid data will fundamentally change our view of the Universe, and it is great to be part of that adventure.”
Five images have been released, which illustrate Euclid’s potential to create the most extensive 3D map of the Universe yet.
Euclid's view of the Horsehead Nebula. Image: ESA/EUCLID CONSORTIUM/NASA
Dr Christopher Pattison is a Research Software Engineer at the University’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (ICG). He is one of a team of academics from the ICG who have spent years working on Euclid’s software, which will help the telescope achieve its goal of mapping over one billion galaxies.
He said: “We're very excited to see the very first full colour, high resolution images from the Euclid Space Telescope. These images represent the breadth of science that Euclid is going to do, while also being beautiful targets chosen to capture our imagination.
“Euclid is aiming to answer some of the biggest questions that we have about the Universe, including what exactly is the Universe made of, and what are dark matter and energy? These images are the first steps to reaching these goals, and it is an incredibly exciting first step.”