Watch the video: Search for dark matter – Esa publishes first images from Euclid space telescope.
The European Space Agency on Tuesday released the first images from the recently launched Euclid space telescope, which aims to unlock the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy – hidden forces thought to make up 95 percent of the universe. The mission is scheduled to last six years and is jointly managed by ESA and NASA. According to astronomers, the telescope can observe billions of galaxies up to 10 billion light years away. The images cover four regions of the relatively nearby universe, including 1,000 galaxies belonging to the massive Perseus cluster, just 240 million light-years away, and more than 100,000 galaxies spread out in the background, ESA said. Scientists believe that only the existence of dark matter could have formed huge, seemingly organized structures like Perseus. After initial startup and a few technical teething problems, Euclid will now begin piecing together a 3D map spanning about a third of the sky to detect tiny variations that will allow conclusions about the dark universe.