The Euclid Space Telescope is a European Space Agency (ESA) mission designed to explore the dark universe by studying dark matter and dark energy. It was launched on July 1, 2023, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

• Map the large-scale structure of the universe by observing billions of galaxies up to 10 billion light-years away.
• Investigate the nature of dark energy by measuring how the universe has expanded over time.
• Study dark matter by analyzing how galaxies and light are distorted by gravity (gravitational lensing).
• Create the largest 3D map of the universe to help understand cosmic evolution.

Euclid carries two main instruments:

1. Visible Imaging Channel (VIS): Takes high-resolution images of galaxies in visible light.
2. Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP): Captures light in the infrared spectrum to measure galaxy distances.

• Euclid reached its destination at Lagrange Point 2 (L2), 1.5 million km from Earth.
• The telescope is now conducting its six-year survey, mapping a third of the sky.
• The first test images were released in November 2023, showing stunning views of distant galaxies.