The European Space Agency (ESA) has given final approval for the construction of a new space telescope that will map the geometry of the dark elements of the universe to an unprecedented accuracy.
The high-tech Euclid telescope is scheduled to launch on a Russian Soyuz rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana in 2020 and will assist scientists in their search for dark energy and dark matter.
Scientists hope the project will ultimately increase understanding of the universe’s accelerating expansion. Over a period of six years, Euclid will map the 3D distribution of up to two billion galaxies and dark matter associated with them.
Dark matter and dark energy account for 95 per cent of the universe’s mass but both are still largely unexplored.
Dark matter is invisible material and can only be detected through its gravitational effect on visible matter, while scientists know that dark energy has an effect on the expansion of the universe.
Euclid will generate the scientific data using a 1.2-metre-diameter telescope and two scientific instruments, a visible-wavelength camera and a near-infrared camera/spectrometer.
The mission is expected to cost in the region of 600 million euros ($ 798 million).
The telescope will survey about half of the sky, and effectively look back in time up to 10 billion light years.