New data from a satellite one million miles from Earth has helped UK scientists shed light on how mysterious forces shaped the evolution of the Universe.
The release of the first survey data from the European Space Agency's pioneering Euclid satellite - made public today - has led to a flurry of scientific advances that further our understanding of the cosmos.
Launched in July 2023, Euclid is mapping the Universe with unprecedented precision and accuracy. By examining more than one billion galaxies over six years, this groundbreaking space telescope aims to explore two of astronomy's biggest mysteries: dark matter and dark energy.
Despite covering less than 0.5 per cent of the complete study area, the data is already proving to be a treasure trove for UK scientists including astronomers from Lancaster University.
Euclid's immense power has helped Professor Isobel Hook and Dr Chris Duffy observe supernovae, the sudden bright explosions that occur when some stars die, long after they have disappeared from the view of observatories on Earth.
They have used Euclid data to enhance their study of "transients", which are astronomical objects whose brightness changes over a relatively short time.
Lead author Dr Duffy said: "It is amazing to use Euclid to be able to see transients and their host galaxies in such spectacular detail, especially well before and after we would otherwise be able to see them from observatories searching for supernova here on Earth. This will allow us to increase our understanding of supernova and where they came from.
"Euclid's ability to see especially faint and far away objects also allowed us to identify the galaxies in which the transients originated. In several cases, these galaxies had not been seen previously, and Euclid identified them for the first time. This is important because it allows us to say how far away a transient is from us and where it is found in a galaxy can provide us with useful information on the type of transient which we have observed. This can allow us to use these transients to help us refine our understanding of how the Universe is expanding."
Professor Isobel Hook said: "It is particularly exciting that Euclid detected all these transient objects and their associated galaxies in just a single snapshot, covering only tiny fraction of its final survey area. It shows the tremendous potential for Euclid working together with future ground-based transient discovery telescopes, particularly the Rubin Observatory which will begin taking data later this year."
In addition to leading some of the first scientific papers to come from this data, the UK has played a key role in the development of Euclid since its inception. University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL) led the production of Euclid's visible instrument (VIS), a powerful camera used to capture visible light from distant galaxies.
Elsewhere, a partnership of seven UK universities contributed strongly to the Science Ground Segment, which receives the initial data from the Euclid satellite and transforms it into data that scientists can work with instantly.
A much larger data release is scheduled for October 2026 which will include results about the nature of dark energy.
