First Test Images from Euclid Space Telescope Disclosed

The European operators of the Euclid space telescope, which was launched on 1 July with a mission to disclose more about elusive dark matter and dark energy, announced its first test photos on Monday.

The starry images weren't reflective of the space telescope's full capability since they were acquired during the commissioning period, when its powerful instruments were being properly calibrated.

However, according to the European Space Agency (ESA), testing have already demonstrated that it will be able to complete its extensive mission.

"After more than 11 years of designing and developing Euclid, it's exhilarating and enormously emotional to see these first images," Euclid project manager Giuseppe Racca in a statement.

The satellite launched from Florida and has already made its way to its observational orbit after traveling roughly one million miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth.

With up to two billion galaxies covering more than a third of the sky, Euclid will then draw the biggest atlas of the cosmos ever.

The map will also provide a fresh perspective on the 13.8 billion year history of the cosmos by catching light that has taken 10 billion years to reach Earth's proximity.

It will be able to measure the form of galaxies using its visible light camera, and it will be able to determine their distance using a NASA-developed near-infrared spectrometer and photometer.

But when the instruments were switched on, researchers were spooked by "an unexpected pattern of light contaminating the images," the ESA said.

An investigation led researchers to believe that "some sunlight was creeping into the spacecraft, probably through a tiny gap," but that it was only detected when Euclid was oriented in certain ways.

"By avoiding certain angles," ESA said, Euclid's imaging device "will be able to fulfil its mission."

The fact that 95% of the universe is still unknown to humans has been referred to as a "cosmic embarrassment" by Racca, and scientists are hoping to use the knowledge obtained to rectify this.

Dark energy, the term used to describe the unidentified factor that is speeding up the expansion of the cosmos, is considered to make up around 70% of the universe.

Dark matter, which is assumed to hold the universe together and account for around 80% of its mass, is thought to make up the remaining 25%.

The scientific use of the telescope is scheduled to start in October.

Source: AFP