This image was taken at an orientation where the sunlight was not an issue. Follow-up investigations indicated that some sunlight was creeping into the spacecraft, probably through a tiny gap by turning Euclid the team realised that this light is only detected at specific orientations, so by avoiding certain angles VIS will be able to fulfil its mission. The image is even more special considering that the Euclid team was given a scare when they first switched the instrument on: they picked up an unexpected pattern of light contaminating the images. It is beautiful to look at, and a joy to do so with the people we've worked together with for so long.” ![]() Reiko Nakajima, VIS instrument scientist adds: “Ground-based tests do not give you images of galaxies or stellar clusters, but here they all are in this one field. VIS images will be available for all to use, whether for scientific or other purposes. ![]() I’m so proud of what the VIS team has achieved and grateful to all of those who have enabled this capability. ![]() Mark Cropper from University College London led the development of VIS: “I’m thrilled by the beauty of these images and the abundance of information contained within them. Though the image is full of detail, the area of sky that it covers is actually only about a quarter of the width and height of the full Moon. Looking closely at this first image, we already get a glimpse of the bounty that VIS will bring whilst a few galaxies are very easy to spot, many more are fuzzy blobs hidden amongst the stars, waiting to be unveiled by Euclid in the future. The Universe in visible light Early commissioning test image – VIS instrumentĮuclid’s VISible instrument (VIS) will take super sharp images of billions of galaxies to measure their shapes. They mark the beginning of the quest for the very nature of dark energy, to be undertaken by the Euclid Consortium.” Yannick Mellier, Euclid Consortium lead adds: “The outstanding first images obtained using Euclid’s visible and near-infrared instruments open a new era to observational cosmology and statistical astronomy. I have full confidence that the team behind the mission will succeed in using Euclid to reveal so much about the 95% of the Universe that we currently know so little about.”Ĭarole Mundell, ESA’s Director of Science agrees: “Our teams have worked tirelessly since the launch of Euclid on 1 July and these first engineering images give a tantalising glimpse of the remarkable data we can expect from Euclid.” The fully calibrated Euclid will ultimately observe billions of galaxies to create the biggest ever 3D map of the sky.”ĮSA Director General Josef Aschbacher congratulates the Euclid team: “It is fantastic to see the latest addition to ESA’s fleet of science missions already performing so well. ![]() “It’s even more incredible when we think that we see just a few galaxies here, produced with minimum system tuning. “After more than 11 years of designing and developing Euclid, it’s exhilarating and enormously emotional to see these first images,” says Euclid project manager Giuseppe Racca. Although there are months to go before Euclid delivers its true new view of the cosmos, reaching this milestone means the scientists and engineers behind the mission are confident that the telescope and instruments are working well.
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