- The Instituto de Física Teórica de Madrid (IFT UAM-CSIC) is hosting the annual meeting of the theoretical division of the powerful satellite, launched on 1 July 2023.
- This meeting paves the way for the first major data release, which will cover approximately one twentieth of the observable sky.
Madrid, 1 October 2024 – On 1 and 2 October the Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT UAM-CSIC) in Madrid will host the annual meeting of the theoretical division of the Euclid satellite. This meeting, which is usually held in different cities in Europe, will focus on discussing the key technical and scientific challenges faced by the team in analysing the data that will start to be published in the coming years.
The Euclid satellite, part of a European Space Agency (ESA) mission, aims to explore the nature of dark energy and dark matter by observing a significant portion of the universe.
In this sense, this year’s meeting is crucial, as it paves the way for the first data release expected in March 2025, called ‘Q1 data release’, a preview to validate the satellite’s performance.
According to Savvas Nesseris, IFT researcher and member of Euclid’s theoretical division, ‘the Q1 data release will be just a small sample to show that Euclid is working properly. It will serve as a first step to do science, but the most important will come in 2026’. In that year, the first major data release is expected, covering about one twentieth of the observable sky, which will allow scientists to start investigating more deeply.
Over the two-day meeting, team members will discuss key projects under development, including the progress of the Cosmology Likelihood for Observables in Euclid (CLOE) numerical code, an essential tool for data analysis. Nesseris explains that ‘at the meeting we will discuss technical issues, such as the preparation of the TH1 Project key paper and the status of the development of CLOE, a code that is fundamental to our analyses’.
Members of the theoretical division of the Euclid satellite meet in Madrid. /IFT.
In addition, small group technical sessions will be held to discuss confidential project topics, accessible only to members of the Euclid consortium. ‘These meetings allow us to fine-tune crucial details that are not of general interest to the entire scientific community, but are vital to the success of our mission,’ adds Nesseris.
The IFT was also joined by leading cosmologist Eric Linder, who gave a colloquium on the Monday prior to the meeting. Although his talk was not directly linked to Euclid’s specific topics due to the confidential nature of the work, it did address broader issues of interest to the institute’s community.
This meeting in Madrid is seen as an important milestone in the Euclid mission, as it marks the beginning of a crucial stage towards 2026. ‘This data release will be a turning point for theoretical cosmology,’ says Nesseris. ‘It will allow us to start working in depth on dark energy and dark matter models, and possibly to challenge or confirm the standard cosmological Lambda-CDM model.’
The Euclid team is working hard to meet the deadlines and milestones set by ESA, and annual meetings of this kind allow technical details to be fine-tuned and efforts to be coordinated among the consortium’s many collaborators.
About Euclid
The Euclid satellite is an ESA mission to map the geometry of the Universe in order to understand the nature of dark energy and dark matter. Equipped with cutting-edge technology, Euclid will observe billions of galaxies and make a crucial contribution to advancing our knowledge of the evolution of the cosmos.
Spanish participation in Euclid
One of the main players is the Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) in Madrid, where several researchers are part of the Euclid consortium. Spanish scientists play a crucial role in the theoretical division of the project, working on the cosmological modelling and interpretation of the data that Euclid will collect. In addition, they collaborate in key projects related to the analysis of the data, such as the development of numerical tools to process the enormous amount of information that the satellite will provide.
Spain has also contributed to the design and construction of some of Euclid’s technological components, mainly through the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC). This centre participated in the creation of the near-infrared spectrograph (NISP), one of the two main instruments on board Euclid. The NISP will play a key role in measuring the distances to galaxies, helping to map the three-dimensional structure of the universe.
In addition to the IFT and the IAC, other institutions such as the Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT) and the University of Barcelona are also deeply involved in the mission, both observationally and theoretically.