This telescope will have the mission of studying dark matter and dark energy, and could in particular bring us closer to the famous Theory of Everything that Einstein dreamed of.
On July 1, a major new ESA mission left Earth. Euclid, an observatory built by Thales Alenia Space dedicated to the study of dark energy and dark matter, was successfully launched by SpaceX. It will attempt to answer a fundamental question of cosmology: what is our universe made of?
To achieve this, Euclid will set up on its space perch at the Lagrange L2 point of the Earth-Sun system. It will achieve this at the beginning of next year, and that is when observations will begin.
These Lagrange points are very special places in space. They exist thanks to the movements of a massive object in orbit around another celestial body, such as the Earth around the Sun. In essence, they are points of balance where the gravity fields of the two bodies compensate each other.
Functionally, these Lagrange points serve as anchor points. A smaller object, such as a satellite, can orbit around this point as it would orbit around a planet. It can thus remain almost motionless with respect to the two celestial bodies which define these Lagrange points. A significant advantage for the stability of space telescopes.
If this reminds you of anything, it’s because Euclid won’t be the only craft settling in this location, about 1.5 million miles from Earth. He will join another device there, and not the least: the James Webbthe most powerful space telescope in history.
Despite his proximity, the Webb’s future roommate inherited a rather different mission. Its 1.2 meter diameter telescope will allow Euclid to map the distribution of matter in the Universe to produce the most accurate 3D map yet. This will allow researchers to study two things that have been straining astronomy for decades: dark energy and dark matter.
These two terms refer to concepts that are still quite nebulous and not perfectly defined. Their common point is that they illustrate that science is still far from understanding everything that happens in our Universe.
The dark side of our Universe
” We are starting from a somewhat embarrassing situation “Explained Giuseppe Racca, project manager at ESA, during a briefing last week. ” We know that about 5% of the universe is made up of the same atoms and particles that make us all up. But all the rest, this 95%, is made up of other things that we don’t really know “. An observation that forces humility. And this is well worth further investigation.
Physicists have therefore devised two concepts to fill its gaps. The first is the black matter. The theory suggests that it is present in very large quantities in the cosmos. But it is also inert; it does not seem to interact either with normal matter or with electromagnetic waves. It is therefore very difficult to study it properly.
Until now, it has never been observed directly. We only know that very many cosmological structures would behave very differently without the influence of this invisible matter. A big gap, knowing that it is one of the keystones of current theories.
In parallel, there is dark energy. It was imagined to explain a phenomenon that has perplexed researchers since Edwin Hubble demonstrated the expansion of the Universe in 1929. 70 years later, a new team has proven that the expansion of the universe is accelerating over time. In other words, the other celestial bodies are not only moving away, but they are doing it faster and faster.
This discovery earned a Nobel Prize for its three instigators, Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt and Adam Reiss. But it also left the scientific community perplexed. Because according to the models in force at the time, this expansion should however slow down over time under the effect of gravitation.
It was in an attempt to explain this inconsistency that the three visionaries introduced the notion of dark energy. It is a force never identified in a concrete way, but which can be proven to be omnipresent in the cosmos. Specialists consider that it represents approximately 70% of the total energy of the Universe. Its influence would be such that it would surpass that of gravitation, thus leading to this famous expansion.
Heading for the Theory of Everything?
The slightest concrete progress on the nature of matter or dark energy could therefore have phenomenal repercussions. This information is likely to significantly change our understanding of the world around us. And this from the largest to the smallest of scales.
Some researchers hope that this work will uncover some pieces of the greatest scientific puzzle of all time. it’s about the Theory of Everythingultimate goal of the illustrious Albert Einstein.
His goal was to find a single, comprehensive theory that would explain all documented physical phenomena. But to hope to achieve this, we must first bridge the yawning gap between two heavyweights of modern physics: general relativity and the standard model of particle physics.
These two theories describe extremely well the phenomena that we observe in our world. They also serve as the basis for much of our modern science. But until proven otherwise, they remain fundamentally irreconcilable on certain points (see below).
Einstein’s General Relativity Passes Its Biggest Test
Once astrophysicists know more about dark matter and dark energy, it may be possible to bridge relativity and quantum physics. Ideally, this will finally allowglimpse the contours of this famous Theory of Everything.
This would undoubtedly represent an unprecedented earthquake in this discipline. It’s no exaggeration to say that this would completely revolutionize our understanding of the Universe. Researchers therefore await Euclid’s first contributions with great impatience.
If the weather conditions are favorable for the launch, the craft will take off on July 1 at 5:11 p.m. from the Cape Canaveral, Florida spaceport aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The launch will be broadcast on ESA’s YouTube channel from 4.30 p.m. If all goes well, the agency will make contact with the craft shortly before 6 p.m., which will mark the start of this great adventure. .
