The European Space Agency (ESA) has just released the first batch of data from groundbreaking Euclid space telescopeWhich was designed to study the secrets of dark matter and dark energy throughout the universe.
The survey data released on March 19 includes initial scans from three regions that will regularly inspect Euclid, as well as a detailed classification of more than 380,000 Galaxy -Only 0.4% of the scientists of the Akashganga have expected catalogs in the six -year lifetime of the mission.
“With the release of data before the survey of Euclid, we are unlocked a treasure of information for scientists to deal with and deal with some most complicated questions in modern science,” Carole mundelDirector of ESA Science, said statement,
Euclid, which was launched in July 2023 and started collecting data in February 2024, which aims MapUnderstanding this structure through the size, size and distribution of galaxies can help determine the nature of scientists. dark matter And Deep energy – Two mysterious events that make an estimated 95% of the universe simultaneously, but do not interact with light and therefore cannot be studied directly.
“Euclid’s entire capacity will be reached only when he has completed his complete survey,” to learn more about dark matter and dark energy from the large scale structure of the cosmic web. Clotilde LegalInstitute d ‘Astrophisic de Paris said in a statement by a Euclid Consortium scientist. “Yet the amount of this first data release gives us a unique first look in the mass organization of galaxies, which we can use to learn more about Galaxy formation over time.”
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The release of March 19 includes a single scan of each of the areas of each deep region, the three areas of the sky that will come again to inspect the Euclid several times again. UniverseAmong these early images, the binoculars captured 26 million galaxies, the most of which are 10.5 billion light-year away. (A Light year Can the distance light travel in a year – about 5.9 trillion miles or 9.5 trillion kilometers.)
“We will inspect each deep area between 30 and 52 times on the six -year mission of Euclid, every time we see those areas, and the number of items we inspect, correct them,” DescendantEuclid project scientist in ESA said in the statement. “Just think about the discoveries that are waiting for us.”
During its planned mission, Euclid will possibly hold images of 1.5 billion galaxies, send back about 100 gigabytes on Earth each day. To process this tsunami of information, Euclid is turning to scientists artificial intelligence (AI). Last year, around 10,000 volunteers with civil science project Galaxy zoo Help the “Zobot” AI algorithm to identify various characteristics of galaxies in early euclid images, such as spiral weapons, to train the AI โโalgorithm.
“We are looking at the galaxies from inside to out, how their internal structures control their growth how the external environment shapes their changes over time,” Ligle said in the statement. “Euclid is a gold mine of data and its effect will be far-reaching from Galaxy Evolution to Mission’s large-picture cosmology targets.”