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Mahesh

18/11/23 12:40 PM IST

Euclid mission for investigating dark matter & dark energy

In News
  • The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Euclid mission, which launched in July this year to investigate the mystery of dark matter and dark energy, released its first five science images.
Euclid Mission
  • Euclid, ESA’s dark universe detective, was designed to investigate how dark matter and dark energy made the cosmos what it is.
  • About 95 per cent of the universe seems to be made of these units that we have no idea about.
  • The reason we have no idea about them is because, as their names suggest, they are dark entities that we cannot directly detect.
  • Instead, we have to rely on the subtle effects they have on the things that we can see.
  • Over the next six years, Euclid will observe the shapes, distance and motions of billions of galaxies out to 10 billion light-years.
  • In the process, it will create what ESA says is the largest cosmic 3D map ever made.
Findings of the mission
  • Euclid's lens focused on the Perseus Cluster, capturing 1,000 galaxies and over 100,000 more in the background, some situated 10 billion light-years away.
  • The mapping of special attributes and characteristics of these galaxies will help unravel the role of dark matter in shaping the universe.
  • Euclid's infrared capabilities provided valuable insights into the stars of IC 342, a spiral galaxy akin to the Milky Way useful for understanding galaxies with structures similar to our own.
  • Irregularly-shaped and small galaxies like NGC 6822 play a crucial role as the building blocks for larger galaxies.
  • Studying them sheds light on the formation of galactic structures.
  • NGC 6397 is a nearly globe-shaped globular cluster about 7,800 LYs away.
  • The mission showcased the Horsehead Nebula, aiming to uncover unseen Jupiter-mass planets in their early stages of development.
Dark Matter
  • Dark matter, though never detected, is believed to be present in the entire universe, its existence presumed because a number of observable celestial phenomena could not be possible if the universe did not have much more matter in it than is seen.
  • It is believed to make up more than 95% of all the universe.
  • The material is considered to be a ‘matter’ since it has gravitational attraction and it is ‘dark’ because it does not seem to interact with light (or any part of the electromagnetic spectrum).
  • Its gravitational force prevents stars in our Milky Way from flying apart.
Source- Indian Express

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