The images include views of galaxy clusters and star-forming 'nurseries’ enveloped in interstellar dust. They were created by combining data from two instruments: VIS, a visible light camera, and the Near Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP), which captures light from the infrared spectrum.
The VIS instrument was designed and developed by a team led by Professor Mark Cropper (UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory) over 16 years, working with colleagues at UCL, Open University and across Europe.
The images – at least four times sharper than those we can take from ground-based telescopes – demonstrate Euclid’s ability to unravel the secrets of the cosmos, enabling scientists to hunt for dark energy and dark matter, the Universe’s most mysterious components. Euclid’s instruments can image large areas of the sky in unrivalled depth, creating a large-scale, 3D map of billions of galaxies to explore the evolution of the Universe over space and time.
To achieve its core aim of better understanding dark energy and dark matter, Euclid’s measurements need to be exquisitely precise. This requires a camera that is incredibly stable, incredibly well understood, with conditions inside it needing to be controlled very carefully. The VIS camera we developed will not only contribute beautiful images, but help us answer fundamental questions about the role of dark energy and dark matter in the evolution of the Universe.
Images
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The Dorado group of galaxies, showing a group of galaxies interacting gravitationally with each other.
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The NGC6744 spiral galaxy, showing bright, star-filled spiral arms radiating out from a central hub and dark dust lanes visible between the spiral arms.
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Messier 78, a vibrant star nursery enveloped in interstellar dust and containing thousands of newly-formed stars and planets.
The Dorado group of galaxies, showing a group of galaxies interacting gravitationally with each other.
Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi; CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO or ESA Standard Licence.
The NGC6744 spiral galaxy, showing bright, star-filled spiral arms radiating out from a central hub and dark dust lanes visible between the spiral arms.
Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi; CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO or ESA Standard Licence.
Messier 78, a vibrant star nursery enveloped in interstellar dust and containing thousands of newly-formed stars and planets.
Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi; CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO or ESA Standard Licence.
