Euclid is building an unprecedented atlas of the night sky, and it just released its first sneak peek. The images released today cover an area of approximately 63deg2 (300 times the size of the full Moon, but just a tiny fraction of the final atlas which will cover one-third of the sky, or 14,000deg2) and are shown in three mosaics that include numerous galaxy clusters, active galactic nuclei, and transient phenomena. The data release also includes the first classification survey of more than 380,000 galaxies and 500 gravitational lens candidates compiled through combined artificial intelligence and citizen science efforts.
This quick release of early data by Euclid can be used for a variety of purposes in astronomy, including finding strong lens systems where background galaxies are lensed by a foreground object, clusters of galaxies, and locations in our galaxy undergoing intense star formation. And as the six-year mission continues, the data will paint an even clearer picture of exactly what makes up the cosmic web. The released data represents less than half a percent of the final data set.
This image shows examples of galaxies in different shapes, all captured by Euclid during its first observations of the Deep Field areas.
Will Percival, director of the Waterloo Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Waterloo and associate faculty at Perimeter Institute, is most excited about the potential of what we will learn about dark matter and dark energy once the Euclid mission is complete. "While the first set of data is fantastic, every year we will gain more insight and ultimately help to understand the role dark matter and dark energy play in the universe," he says.
Canada's contribution to Euclid came from the Canada France Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), located atop the summit of Maunakea, a 4,200-metre, dormant volcano located on the island of Hawai'i. CFHT contributed data that allows us to understand more about the galaxies Euclid is seeing. This will help the scientific groups within the Euclid mission studying dark matter using a process called gravitational lensing.
"Canada has provided data that is critical to the success of the Euclid mission," says Mike Hudson, professor in the department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Waterloo. "In return, 25 Canadians joined the Euclid Consortium: a win-win for science."
Canadians play a pivotal role in the Euclid mission. Researchers from Canada are involved at all levels in the collaboration of thousands of scientists from across the world who are using the Euclid satellite's data in their scientific work. As Euclid takes more and more data the amount of science that can be done increases and Canadian scientists are leading the preparations for the large data sets that will enable cosmological measurements of Dark Matter and Dark Energy.
Researchers from the University of Waterloo, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, the University of British Columbia, and the National Research Council of Canada's Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre are involved in the mission. The Canadian Space Agency also supports this work.
