Dark matter is what gives the universe, the Milky Way, and other galaxies their structure. It accounts for one-fourth of the cosmos. That is invisible, which is an issue. That will alter with the launch of the Euclid space telescope.
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| Launching moment of European Space Agency's flagship project Euclid space telescope |
The most recent flagship astronomical endeavor in Europe costs 1.5 billion euros. The overall picture is what the "Euclid" space telescope, which will launch into orbit on July 1, is all about. What is the world composed of? is a startlingly straightforward question.
First, from matter and from energy. But there's also the invisible. The European Space Agency's (ESA) Markus Kissler-Patig is in charge of the department's Science and Operations. "We know that some of the matter is not luminous," he explains. "We call it dark matter because of this."
And that's where the issues start because dark matter is invisible since it doesn't shine. But sadly, this dark matter makes up about a quarter of the universe. According to Kissler-Patig, there is a force in the cosmos that is unrelated to the physics that we are familiar with on Earth.
In this situation, "Euclid" is relevant. The purpose of the brand-new European space telescope is to study the trajectories that the light, visible stuff takes through space. Because the mass and, thus, the gravity of the intangible dark matter control these movements. It is almost six times as large as the subject that is familiar to us. Therefore, dark matter is in charge of the structure of the universe and everything that we can see, including the Milky Way, other galaxies, and galaxy clusters.
The issue of dark energy is another. According to Kissler-Patig, "We know it's some kind of negative energy that defies gravity because it's pushing the universe apart rather than pulling it together."
It wasn't until the turn of the 2000 that this dark energy was identified. Even then, the accepted theory of cosmology was that the universe began with the big bang 14 billion years ago and has since been expanding. However, astronomers began to detect that space was growing even faster in the late 1990s. Nobody has a good explanation for it yet.
"Euclid" will also be unable to directly view both dark forces. However, galaxies' spins indirectly provide light on the dark matter that must exist within of them and binds them together. Because if not, they would break apart.
The gravity of dark matter also warps the light coming from galaxies behind it. In space, this produces a mirage. The viewer on Earth is shown a galaxy where there is none at all.
We intend to carry out a six-year sky study called "Euclid," says Kissler-Patig. "We want to observe a third of the entire universe, which should give us enough information to understand dark energy and dark matter," said the researcher.
Euclid will establish his observation station 1.5 billion kilometers distant in order to be fully free from sunlight as well as the light reflected from the earth and moon. The telescope remains still in space because the gravitational pulls of the sun, earth, and moon are equal there.
Therefore, European astronomers are hoping that their new telescope will eventually provide a solution to the issue that Goethe's Faust previously posed about what really keeps the universe together. According to "Euclid" system engineer Tobias Bönke, this would be a wise use of funds. "For 1.4 billion, we get quite a lot here."