R. J. Laureijs

VIS: the visible imager for Euclid

Euclid-VIS is the large format visible imager for the ESA Euclid space mission in their Cosmic Vision program, scheduled for launch in 2020. Together with the near infrared imaging within the NISP instrument, it forms the basis of the weak lensing measurements of Euclid. VIS will image in a single r+i+z band from 550-900 nm over a field of view of ~0.5 deg2. By combining 4 exposures with a total of 2260 sec, VIS will reach to deeper than mAB=24.5 (10σ) for sources with extent ~0.3 arcsec. The image sampling is 0.1 arcsec. VIS will provide deep imaging with a tightly controlled and stable point spread function (PSF) over a wide survey area of 15000 deg2 to measure the cosmic shear from nearly 1.5 billion galaxies to high levels of accuracy, from which the cosmological parameters will be measured. In addition, VIS will also provide a legacy dataset with an unprecedented combination of spatial resolution, depth and area covering most of the extra-Galactic sky. Here we will present the results of the study carried out by the Euclid Consortium during the period up to the Critical Design Review.

Euclid: ESA's mission to map the geometry of the dark universe

Euclid is a space-borne survey mission developed and operated by ESA. It is designed to understand the origin of the Universes accelerating expansion. Euclid will use cosmological probes to investigate the nature of dark energy, dark matter and gravity by tracking their observational signatures on the geometry of the Universe and on the history of structure formation. The mission is optimised for the measurement of two independent cosmological probes: weak gravitational lensing and galaxy clustering. The payload consists of a 1.2 m Korsch telescope designed to provide a large field of view. The light is directed to two instruments provided by the Euclid Consortium: a visual imager (VIS) and a near-infrared spectrometer-photometer (NISP). Both instruments cover a large common field of view of 0.54 deg2, to be able to survey at least 15,000 deg2 for a nominal mission of 6 years. An overview of the mission will be presented: the scientific objectives, payload, satellite, and science operations. We report on the status of the Euclid mission with a foreseen launch in 2019.

The Euclid Mission

Euclid is a high precision survey mission under development by the European Space Agency to investigate the properties of Dark Energy and Dark Matter by means of a weak lensing and baryon acoustic oscillations experiments. The technical capabilities of Euclid are such that it also addresses other cosmological and astronomical topics, providing an unprecedented science legacy. The survey mission will carry out an imaging and spectroscopic survey of the entire extragalactic sky (20,000 deg2). Euclid carries a meter class telescope which feeds two instruments: a visible imager (VIS), a near-infrared photometer combined with a medium resolution spectrometer (NISP). The two instruments have identical sized field of views (0.5 deg2) and will operate simultaneously in step-and-stare mode. The nominal mission period is 5 years. We describe the mission, the satellite, and the payload concepts, which we have adopted at the start of the definition phase.

Euclid Mission: building of a reference survey

Euclid is an ESA Cosmic-Vision wide-field-space mission which is designed to explain the origin of the acceleration of Universe expansion. The mission will investigate at the same time two primary cosmological probes: Weak gravitational Lensing (WL) and Galaxy Clustering (in particular Baryon Acoustic Oscillations, BAO). The extreme precision requested on primary science objectives can only be achieved by observing a large number of galaxies distributed over the whole sky in order to probe the distribution of dark matter and galaxies at all scales. The extreme accuracy needed requires observation from space to limit all observational biases in the measurements. The definition of the Euclid survey, aiming at detecting billions of galaxies over 15 000 square degrees of the extragalactic sky, is a key parameter of the mission. It drives its scientific potential, its duration and the mass of the spacecraft. The construction of a Reference Survey derives from the high level science requirements for a Wide and a Deep survey. The definition of a main sequence of observations and the associated calibrations were indeed a major achievement of the Definition Phase. Implementation of this sequence demonstrated the feasibility of covering the requested area in less than 6 years while taking into account the overheads of space segment observing and maneuvering sequence. This reference mission will be used for sizing the spacecraft consumables needed for primary science. It will also set the framework for optimizing the time on the sky to fulfill the primary science and maximize the Euclid legacy.

The Euclid mission design

Euclid is a space-based optical/near-infrared survey mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) to investigate the nature of dark energy, dark matter and gravity by observing the geometry of the Universe and on the formation of structures over cosmological timescales. Euclid will use two probes of the signature of dark matter and energy: Weak gravitational Lensing, which requires the measurement of the shape and photometric redshifts of distant galaxies, and Galaxy Clustering, based on the measurement of the 3-dimensional distribution of galaxies through their spectroscopic redshifts. The mission is scheduled for launch in 2020 and is designed for 6 years of nominal survey operations. The Euclid Spacecraft is composed of a Service Module and a Payload Module. The Service Module comprises all the conventional spacecraft subsystems, the instruments warm electronics units, the sun shield and the solar arrays. In particular the Service Module provides the extremely challenging pointing accuracy required by the scientific objectives. The Payload Module consists of a 1.2 m three-mirror Korsch type telescope and of two instruments, the visible imager and the near-infrared spectro-photometer, both covering a large common field-of-view enabling to survey more than 35% of the entire sky. All sensor data are downlinked using K-band transmission and processed by a dedicated ground segment for science data processing. The Euclid data and catalogues will be made available to the public at the ESA Science Data Centre.

The Euclid VIS CCD detector design, development, and programme status

The focal plane array of the Euclid VIS instrument comprises 36 large area, back-illuminated, red-enhanced CCD detectors (designated CCD 273). These CCDs were specified by the Euclid VIS instrument team in close collaboration with ESA and e2v technologies. Prototypes were fabricated and tested through an ESA pre-development activity and the contract to qualify and manufacture flight CCDs is now underway. This paper describes the CCD requirements, the design (and design drivers) for the CCD and package, the current status of the CCD production programme and a summary of key performance measurements.

Euclid near-infrared spectrophotometer instrument concept at the end of the phase A study

The Euclid mission objective is to map the geometry of the dark Universe by investigating the distance-redshift relationship and the evolution of cosmic structures. The NISP (Near Infrared Spectro-Photometer) is one of the two Euclid instruments operating in the near-IR spectral region (0.9-2μm). The instrument is composed of: - a cold (140K) optomechanical subsystem constituted by a SiC structure, an optical assembly, a filter wheel mechanism, a grism wheel mechanism, a calibration unit and a thermal control - a detection subsystem based on a mosaic of 16 Teledyne HAWAII2RG 2.4μm. The detection subsystem is mounted on the optomechanical subsystem structure - a warm electronic subsystem (280K) composed of a data processing / detector control unit and of an instrument control unit. This presentation will describe the architecture of the instrument, the expected performance and the technological key challenges. This paper is presented on behalf of the Euclid Consortium.

Euclid mission status

In June 2012, Euclid, ESAs Cosmology mission was approved for implementation. Afterwards the industrial contracts were signed for the payload module and the spacecraft prime, and the mission requirements consolidated. We present the status of the mission in the light of the design solutions adopted by the contractors. The performances of the spacecraft in its operation, the telescope assembly, the scientific instruments as well as the data-processing have been carefully budgeted to meet the demanding scientific requirements. We give an overview of the system and where necessary the key items for the interfaces between the subsystems.

ISO observations of the interacting galaxy Markarian 297 with the powerful supernova remnant 1982aa

Markarian (Mkn) 297 is a complex system comprised of two interacting galaxies that has been modelled with a variety of scenarios. Observations of this system were made with the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) using the ISOCAM, ISOPHOT and LWS instruments. ISOCAM maps at 6.7 µm, 7.7 µm, 12 µm and 14.3 µm are presented which, together with PHT-S spectrometry of the central interacting region, probe the dust obscured star formation and the properties of the organic dust. The ISOCAM observations reveal that the strongest emission in the four bands is at a location completely unremarkable at visible and near-IR (e.g. 2MASS) wavelengths, and does not coincide with the nuclear region of either colliding galaxy. This striking characteristic has also been observed in the overlap region of the colliding galaxies in the Antennae (NGC 4038/4039), the intragroup region of Stephan’s Quintet, and in IC 694 in the interacting system Arp 299, and again underlines the importance of infrared observations in understanding star formation in colliding/merging systems. At 15 µm, the hidden source in Mkn 297 is, respectively, 14.6 and 3.8 times more luminous than the hidden sources in the Antennae (NGC 4038/4039) and Stephan’s Quintet. Numerical simulations of the Mkn 297 system indicate that a co-planar radial penetration between two disk galaxies yielded the observed wing formation in the system about 1.5 × 10 8 years after the collision. A complex emission pattern with knots and ridges of emission was detected with ISOCAM. The 7.7 µm map predominantly shows the galaxy in emission from the 7.7 µm feature attributed to PAHs (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons). The 14.3/7.7 µm ratio is greater than unity over most of the galaxy, implying widespread strong star formation. Strong emission features were detected in the ISOPHOT spectrum, while [O I], [O III] and [C II] emission lines were seen with LWS. Using data from the three instruments, luminosities and masses for two dust components were determined. The total infrared luminosity is approximately 10 11 L� ,w hich (marginally) classifies the system as a luminous infrared galaxy (LIRG). A supernova that exploded in 1979 (SN 1982aa) gave rise to one of the most powerful known radio remnants which falls close to the strongest mid-infrared source and is identified with star forming region 14 in the optical. This supernova explosion may have been accompanied by a gamma-ray burst (GRB), consistent with the idea that GRBs are associated with supernovae in star forming regions, and a search for a GRB consistent with the direction to Mkn 297, in satellite data from July to December 1979, is recommended.

Euclid end-to-end straylight performance assessment

In the Euclid mission the straylight has been identified at an early stage as the main driver for the final imaging quality of the telescope. The assessment by simulation of the final straylight in the focal plane of both instruments in Euclid’s payload have required a complex workflow involving all stakeholders in the mission, from industry to the scientific community. The straylight is defined as a Normalized Detector Irradiance (NDI) which is a convenient definition tool to separate the contributions of the telescope and of the instruments. The end-to-end straylight of the payload is then simply the sum of the NDIs of the telescope and of each instrument. The NDIs for both instruments are presented in this paper for photometry and spectrometry.