Mysteries of universe to be revealed by Euclid telescope, say scientists

Scientists have expressed hope of finding more about the dark side of the cosmos after a European probe blasts off into space in a few weeks.

The two most baffling components of the universe – dark matter and dark energy – will be investigated by the Euclid mission, worth €1 billion ($1.10bn).

Both the dark matter and dark energy of the universe remain invisible to astronomers, hence they have been able to infer their existence only by estimating their influence on the behaviour of galaxies and stars.

“We cannot say we understand the universe if the nature of these dark components remains a mystery,” stated astrophysicist Prof Andy Taylor of Edinburgh University, while speaking to The Guardian.“That is why Euclid is so important,” he added.

ALSO READ |NASA grows flower in space, shares image of bloom on social media

The professor stated that the scientists in the UK had played an important role in building and designing the probe. “We thought what would be the biggest, most fundamentally important project we could do? The answer was Euclid, which has now been designed, built and is ready for launch,” Taylor said, as reported byThe Guardian.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Euclid mission to launch on July 1

Last year, Euclid was planned to be launched on a Russian Soyuz rocket. However, after Russia invaded Ukraine, the European Space Agency called off its co-operation with the Russian space agency Roscosmos and then signed a deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX company to use Falcon 9 rocket.

Euclid, which will be launched on July 1, will need a moth to cross the solar system to reach its destination which is 150 million km from Earth, at a position called the second Lagrange point. From this point, the craft will be able to look into the deep space with the Earth, moon and sun behind it. Then, the two-tonne spacecraft will start its survey of the heavens.

“Euclid has the resolving power of the Hubble space telescope but will be able to survey a third of the night sky at the same time, so it will give us an incredibly detailed map of the heavens,” said astronomer Stephen Wilkins, of Sussex University, speaking toThe Guardian.

WATCH |Russia's latest space agency mission: Raising a militia for the war in Ukraine?

“Gravitational lensing produced by dark matter will tell us a great deal about what it is made of,” stated Prof Mathilde Jouzac of Durham University, while speaking to The Guardian.

“It may be that dark matter is made up of light particles. If so, they will produce one kind of lensing. On the other hand, if dark matter is made of very large particles, that will produce a different set of lensing. This information will then help direct the search for dark matter particles on Earth,” he added.

You cannow write forwionews.comand be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with ushere.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE