“And it’s those ingredients pulled together that is going to make Euclid the iconic cosmology mission of the day.”Whereas NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope zooms in on one part of the sky at a time, Euclid excels at imaging wide, but still detailed, swaths of the universe.
That’s perfect for “when you want to look for a needle in a haystack,” Dr. Seiffert said, including objects like free-floating worlds.
With the data Euclid sends home, researchers can learn about how the web of dark matter cementing our universe together influences the shapes and motions of visible objects in space.
The telescope’s detailed resolution is also expected to help scientists map the distribution of galaxies across cosmic time, aiding in understanding dark energy, the inexplicable force pulling the universe apart.
Over the summer, scientists worked around the clock to fix a faulty navigation sensor that made Euclid create images of winding star trails as the telescope tried to capture a piece of sky.
Persons:
Carole Mundell, NASA’s James Webb, Euclid, Seiffert, Mundell
Organizations:
Space