European Space Agency (ESA) is launching a new mission to look closely at the dark universe. The dark matter and dark energy have been leaving theorists and astronomers puzzled, and NASA and ESA might find answers soon through the Euclid mission.
ESA's Euclid Mission to Study Dark Energy
With infrared detectors donated by NASA, the European Space Agency's (ESA) Euclid Mission should reveal fresh insights into the physical properties of both dark matter and dark energy. The 1.2-meter telescope project will have some of the answers, but it should provide theorists with a ton of new information to consider.
According to ESA, Euclid will have a cosmic structure at vast scales during the past 10 billion years. It will simultaneously collect spectroscopic redshift data on 50 million galaxies and picture 1.5 billion galaxies with a resolution comparable to the Hubble Space Telescope.
It has two scientific apparatuses, one of which uses visible light and the other of infrared light. Jason Rhodes, an observational cosmologist at NASA JPL and the Euclid science lead told Forbes via Email that an optical component known as a "dichroic" divides incoming light into visible and infrared components and transfers each component to the proper equipment. Both instruments include cameras with a sizable number of pixels that can simultaneously observe the sky and collect data, per Rhodes.
Euclid's standard six-year science mission will start in December from L2, a gravitationally stable Earth-Sun position around a million miles from Earth, assuming a typical launch in July. The 15,000 square degrees of the f sky that Euclid will cover. It will create a massive atlas with incredibly high resolution in visible and near-infrared spectrums.
Rhodes added that studies into dark energy are statistical. The results can be skewed if there is minimal systematic offset to such shapes or distances. This reportedly motivated them to do these measurements using a space telescope above Earth's atmosphere.
Rhodes said they hoped Euclid would reduce the error bars of the existing measurements, potentially eliminating a wide range of plausible causes for the accelerated expansion. They hope they are one step closer to knowing the physical source of dark energy by ruling out plausible hypotheses.
What Is Dark Energy, Dark Matter?
There are more unknowns than knowns when it comes to dark energy. They are aware of how dark energy influences the universe's expansion. Thus, experts know how much of it is present, per NASA.
Other than that, nothing else is known about it. But it is a significant puzzle. It turns out that dark energy makes up about 68% of the universe. About 27% of matter is dark matter. Less than 5% of the universe comprises everything else, including everything our sensors and all regular matter have ever observed. Because it makes up such a negligible portion of the cosmos, perhaps it shouldn't even be called "normal" matter.
In a previous report from Science Times, a new study claims that dark energy, which is thought to be behind the universe's expansion, can drive the universe to expand until it reaches a specific size and contract it again. The cosmos will reportedly suffer a big crunch before it comes to a state of infinite density, and dark energy will turn it around again, drive a period of rapid inflation and start a new cycle again.
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