Forget JWST, let's talk Euclid!

[Ags]

In all the fuss and hype of the launch of JWST I seem to have entirely overlooked the arrival at L2 in 2023 of another grand telescope, Euclid. It has a 1.2 meter aperture and is a telescope of exotic Korsch design. It images in visual wavelengths and has a 600 megapixel sensor, so it has pretty decent resolution (0.13 arcseconds per pixel if I am not mistaken). Unlike Hubble or JWST, Euclid is a widefield instrument capturing 0.91 degree sections of the sky in order to trace the subtle effects of dark matter and dark energy. Most importantly it operates in the visual spectrum and it takes exceptionally pretty widefield pictures! It's been in the news lately for discovering dozens of rogue planets:

Euclid telescope spies rogue planets floating free in Milky Way | Space | The Guardian

Interestingly, the largely American JWST went to space on a European rocket, but the European Euclid rode an American rocket.

Here's a Euclid APOD:

APOD: 2023 November 8 – Perseus Galaxy Cluster from Euclid (nasa.gov)

Edited May 24 by Ags

[tomato]

Thanks for posting, we rightly sing the praises of modern amateur Astro equipment, but that image really shows that we just scratch the surface of what’s out there.

[Ags]

Very coincidentally, Euclid is also today's APOD

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240524.html

[Ags]

Euclid had a health scare earlier this year, its optics were icing up! Fortunately they packed dew strips!

ESA - Euclid's sight restored

If the dew strips didn't work, they could have sent me up with a hairdryer  

Edited May 24 by Ags

[Ags]

They're making the classic newbie mistake of only spending one hour imaging a target.

ESA - Euclid’s view of the Horsehead Nebula

[saac]

Maybe the clouds rolled in  

Jim

[Ags]

I'm wondering where the space ice came from? 

[Whistlin Bob]

12 hours ago, Ags said:

They're making the classic newbie mistake of only spending one hour imaging a target.

 

Yeah- that's rubbish isn't it! 🤣🤣🤣

[AstroMuni]

On 24/05/2024 at 22:51, Ags said:

I'm wondering where the space ice came from? 

And they say the ice build up is likely to happen again, so really wonder where its getting this 'ice' from

[geoflewis]

44 minutes ago, AstroMuni said:

And they say the ice build up is likely to happen again, so really wonder where its getting this 'ice' from

Maybe Euclid couldn't hold his breath any longer.....🌬️

[Gfamily]

On 24/05/2024 at 22:51, Ags said:

I'm wondering where the space ice came from? 

From this ESA article  

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Euclid/Operations_begin_to_de-ice_Euclid_s_vision

Quote

... water absorbed from the air during assembly on Earth is now gradually being released from certain components in the spacecraft, teased out by the vacuum of space.

Basically, sublimation from the rest of Euclid followed by deposition onto the mirror surfaces.