The European Space Agency (ESA) has released the first batch of data from the Euclid space telescope, a groundbreaking instrument designed to study dark matter and dark energy. The survey data includes initial scans of three deep-field regions and classifications of over 380,000 galaxies, representing just 0.4% of the estimated total that will be cataloged over the mission’s six-year lifespan.
The Euclid telescope aims to map the large-scale structure of the universe by analyzing galaxy shapes, sizes, and distribution. This information is crucial for understanding dark matter and dark energy, which make up an estimated 95% of the universe but cannot be directly studied due to their invisible nature. The mission’s full potential will be unlocked once it completes its entire survey.
The March 19 release includes images of 26 million galaxies, with the most distant ones spanning 10.5 billion light-years away. Euclid will observe each deep field between 30 and 52 times over its six-year mission, improving resolution and observing more objects each time. Over its planned lifespan, the telescope is expected to capture images of 1.5 billion galaxies, generating about 100 gigabytes of data per day.
To process this vast amount of information, Euclid scientists are using artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. The “ZooBot” AI algorithm was trained by nearly 10,000 volunteers with citizen science project Galaxy Zoo to recognize galaxy features in early Euclid images. The telescope’s data will have far-reaching implications for understanding galaxy evolution and the bigger-picture cosmology goals of the mission.
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/euclid-space-telescope-unveils-treasure-195906257.html