The Launch of Euclid
with Dr Stephen Gwyn
Summary
If all goes according to plan, the Euclid space telescope will launch from Cape Canaveral on July 1st.
Euclid’s core mission is to map the web-like distribution of matter in the Universe. It will make a map of the regular matter by measuring the positions and distances of billions of galaxies. It will map the invisible Dark Matter but observing how the mass of Dark Matter subtly distorts the appearance of galaxies. In addition to the core science dedicated to the distant universe the Euclid data will be recycled to study a long list of other topics including supernovae, the faint wings of nearby galaxies and streams of stars in our own galaxy.
bio
Stephen Gwyn is a Science Lead at the Canada Astronomy Data Centre at DAO. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Victoria, studying the evolution of galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field. He has worked with the Canada France Hawaii Telescope and again with the Hubble Space Telescope on the MMM project, for Mergers Morphology, and Mass Buildup. His career also took him to work at the Marseille-Provence Observatory. Stephen was also instrumental in constructing the guide maps that were used by the New Horizons mission on its way to Pluto.
In his copious free time Stephen likes to sail and listen to Jimmy Buffett (not necessarily at the same time).