What’s in Euclid’s First Light images?

Consortium, ESA, Telescope and instruments / By

Euclid’s “First Light” engineering images show a lot of things. There are obviously some astronomical objects, but also some stranger features that are not. The reason is that these images are “raw”, they have not been digitally treated the ways as needs to be done to create science-ready images. They contain a lot of features that are properties of the detectors used, but also unwanted internal reflections of the optics, as well as cosmic rays that hit all space telescopes. Converting these images into science-ready data is the task of the Euclid Science Ground Segment, which has developed a huge and very detailed data treatment (“data reduction”) pipeline over many years.

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What’s in Euclid’s First Light images?Read More »

What’s in Euclid’s First Light images? Read More »

Update from the Euclid Project Manager

Newsletter 06/2023 / By

Updates and thoughts from the Euclid Project Manager

Giuseppe Racca (ESA Project Manager), March 2023

Following the major achievements of last year: 

  • Installation and test of four micropropulsion pressure regulators following several issues;
  • Repaired NIPS and VIS electronic units which had faulty circuit design, but no failure;
  • Integration of the High Gain Antenna, Sunshield, Service Module and Payload module;
  • Procured a new launch vehicle (Falcon9) following the discontinuation of Soyuz and A6 delays;
  • System test campaign at environmental and functional level, including SVT/SOVTs with the instrument operations, the MOC, the SOC and the IOTs;
  • Completion of the TBTV test and start of the mechanical tests;
  • Ground Segment Readiness review showing the readiness to support the launch in July 2023,

the acceptance tests of the Euclid system have continued in the first part of this year 2023

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Update from the Euclid Project ManagerRead More »

Update from the Euclid Project Manager Read More »

Mosaic of nearby galaxies as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope

Update from the Euclid Project Scientist

Newsletter 06/2023 / By

Updates and thoughts from the Euclid Project Scientist

René Laureiijs (ESA Project Scientist), March 2023

Finally, we now have a very firm launch interval, and it is approaching with light speed! We still have to tick off many boxes for the science operations, where a number of key operational activities must be defined in necessary detail. There is a large amount of work to be done related to the preparations for scheduling, processing, and analysis of the scientific (calibration) observations before the start of the Euclid survey. The daily science data rate in orbit will be huge and the timescales between the milestones are short, shorter than the time required to train completely new personnel. With a positive attitude, well-prepared teams, and good organisation we can meet our goals. There is certainly no lack of collaborative spirit and no fear of challenges, inherent to our ambition to break new scientific ground.

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Update from the Euclid Project ScientistRead More »

Update from the Euclid Project Scientist Read More »

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