Euclid: Exploring the dark universe

 

Euclid is a space survey mission dedicated to investigate the origin of the accelerating expansion of the Universe and the nature of dark energy, dark matter and gravity. Euclid will map the geometry of the Universe, and reconstruct the evolution of large scale sctructures over the last 10 billion years. Euclid was approved in 2012 as the second Medium Class mission (M2) in the ESA Cosmic Vision Programme. Euclid was launched on 1 July 2023 with a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral.

The mission is optimised to measure shapes of galaxies, which are distorted by gravitational deflection of light due to dark matter concentrations, and to measure galaxy clustering, that is the non-random distribution of galaxies in the Universe resulting from the action of gravity. Euclid demands very high precision measurements and the ability to survey the sky at visible and near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths. Such requirements cannot be met from the ground, and calls for a wide-field Visible/NIR space mission. For more information see our SciTech site, and the "red book".

 

 

Latest News

 

 

Photo of Federica Tarsitano 13-May-2025
Meet the Euclid Q1 Authors: Federica Tarsitano
Interview with Federica Tarsitano, author of one of the selected scientific papers submitted to the Arxiv on 19th March 2025, date of the Euclid Q1 data release, using Euclid Q1 data.
Federica Tarsitano's work centers around red quasars selection.
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Galaxy Cluster Abell 2390 12-May-2025
"Euclid on Sky" is live!
The newly published special issue of the journal "Astronomy and Astrophysics", featuring 10 science papers based on the Early Release Observations is available online: https://aanda.org/component/toc/?task=topic&id=2064.
The issue also includes an overview of the processing pipeline used, and reference papers describing Euclid and its instruments.

The data and images from Euclid's Early Release Observations can be accessed from ESA's press release of May 2024.

Photo of Christopher Duffy 29-Apr-2025
Meet the Euclid Q1 Authors: Christopher Duffy
Interview with Christopher Duffy, author of one of the selected scientific papers submitted to the Arxiv on 19th March 2025, date of the Euclid Q1 data release, using Euclid Q1 data.
Christopher Duffy's work centers around photometric studies of known transients.
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Photo of Clotilde Laigle 15-Apr-2025
Meet the Euclid Q1 Authors: Clotilde Laigle
Interview with Clotilde Laigle, author of one of the selected scientific papers submitted to the Arxiv on 19th March 2025, date of the Euclid Q1 data release, using Euclid Q1 data.
Clotilde Laigle's work centers around data processing and galaxy formation within the cosmic web.
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Photo of Michael Walmsley 03-Apr-2025
Meet the Euclid Q1 Authors: Michael Walmsley
Interview with Michael Walmsley, author of one of the selected scientific papers submitted to the Arxiv on 19th March 2025, date of the Euclid Q1 data release, using Euclid Q1 data.
Michael Walmsley's work centers around galaxy morphology and strong lensing.
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New Catalogue Release 19-Mar-2025
Euclid opens data treasure trove, offers glimpse of deep fields
On 19 March 2025, the European Space Agency's Euclid mission released its first batch of survey data, including a preview of its deep fields. Here, hundreds of thousands of galaxies in different shapes and sizes take centre stage and show a glimpse of their large-scale organisation in the cosmic web.

Further details on ESA's Science & Exploration portal.
Access the related video here
A press briefing recording can be found here
 

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