The Euclid Space Telescope got off to a shaky start

ESA’s Euclid Space Telescope It launched from the ground on July 1, and has been preparing ever since to begin its investigations into the Dark Universe. But operating the instrument has not yet been a rainbow and butterflies, as the telescope’s engineers and scientists have worked to solve many problems that have arisen in the process.

Can Read all about Euclid’s mission here; In short, the telescope will study the dark universe, the parts of the universe that consist of energy and dark matter, About 95% of everything. Euclid is equipped with a visible light camera (VIS), near infrared camera, and Spectrometer (NISP) for their observations. Your current location The problems are three-dimensional: the telescope’s carefully pointed sensors sometimes lose track of stars, stray sunlight sneaks into the telescope’s first images, and X-rays reaching Euclid’s detectors are unwanted as a result Sun lightspoiling some pictures.

The situation is serious but not critical. according to European Space Agency launchThe problems “do not threaten Euclid’s mission, but they could affect the way it carries out its work.”

Telescope The first test images were published on August 1.A month after its launch from Florida. By then, Euclid had flown to his position in space, his mirrors had not frozen, and his instruments had seen their first light. The pictures look great. But according to the statement, it’s the Euclid Precision Pointing Sensor, a system of optical sensors that allow the telescope to lock on to the stars to precisely point to an area of ​​the sky for imaging.– Those stars are not set constantly. The Euclid team uploaded a software solution to Euclid after testing in a spacecraft simulator and a replica of Euclid in mission control.

“I am pleased to say that the initial tests look good,” Andreas Rudolf, Euclid’s chief operating officer, said in the ESA statement. “We found many stars in all our tests, and although it is too early to celebrate and more observations are needed, the signs are very encouraging.”

Commissioning is a normal part of the space telescope’s schedule, the period after spacecraft launch in which the mission’s various instruments and systems are prepared for scientific observations. The startup process takes time; The Webb Space Telescope began operation in End of January 2022 Its first scientific form Launched until July 2022.

But Webb’s operation went relatively smoothly, even though one of the telescope’s mirrors was sore Hit by a small meteorite– A small piece of space rock, in May 2022.

“Only scientific images can provide us with absolute certainty that Euclid’s discovery works well,” Giuseppe Racca, director of the Euclid project, said in the same statement. “However, all the evidence so far makes us very optimistic. “We will continue to keep our fingers crossed, but the restart of the performance validation phase is getting closer every day.”

Euclid needed protection from bright sunlight in order to look into the distant universe. But some sunlight sneaks into the VIS instrument’s line of sight by reflecting off a booster that emerges from the shadow cast by the spacecraft’s sun visor. Euclid’s team believes that reflected light appears in some of the VIS test observations.

Meanwhile, solar flares that produce X-rays are a cause for concern. RThe team believes that these X-rays could reach Euclid’s detectors at some point.angles, thus corrupting some telescope data. Analysis of the telescope revealed that, depending on solar activity, solar flares vary in frequency and intensity: Euclid could lose 3% of its data if the problem is not addressed.

The fine orientation sensor issue is currently being resolved, but the light issue will require different approaches. According to the statement, repeating the observations and processing the data can reduce the influence of X-rays on the observations and the telescope study can be reprogrammed to mitigate sunlight.

Euclid’s project is vast, literally as vast as the universe and its dark secrets. With a little luck and a lot of attention, problems discovered during operation can be mitigated and the telescope can begin its study of the universe.

additional: The first images have arrived from the Euclid Telescope and they are impressive