Euclid Mission

Copyright: ESA/ATG medialab (spacecraft); NASA, ESA, CXC, C. Ma, H. Ebeling and E. Barrett (University of Hawaii/IfA), et al. and STScI (background)

Euclid is a mission of the European Space Agency (ESA), adopted in 2012 in the framework of Cosmic Vision 2015-2025, with expected launch in 2022. Euclid is a high-precision cosmology mission exploiting the combination of weak lensing and large scale structure in order to constrain the dark energy equation of state, to test modified gravity models and to address other key questions in modern cosmology.  Euclid will survey 15,000 deg² with visible and near-infrared imaging to mag_AB~24-25, and with near-infrared slitless spectroscopy, plus a deeper field of 40 deg². 

Euclid will also provide an immense legacy dataset. Italy is member of the Euclid Consortium together with several European countries and the participation of NASA and CSA. The Italian participation in Euclid is mainly supported by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and MIUR (PRIN). Several scientists of the DIFA – Astrophysics Sector played a key role in the development (2008) and approval (2011) of Euclid, and currently have management, scientific (cosmology, clusters, galaxies, gravitational lensing and AGNs) and data processing responsibilities.

Funding

• UniBo
• ASI
• PRIN-MIUR