N° 26–2024: Media invitation: ESA's Euclid celebrates first science with sparkling cosmic views

ESAC, The European Space Astronomy Centre, near Madrid, Spain, is the scientific heart of the European Space Agency. It hosts the science operations centres from where science operations are conducted for ESA's Astronomy and Solar System exploration missions. It is also the place where all the scientific data produced are archived and made accessible to the world, having more than 35.000 users around the world including the scientific and educational communities. ESAC is also involved in Earth observation activities through the ESA’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission and is the base for ESA’s Galileo Science Office. Important educational efforts are run from ESAC as well, with the CESAR project reaching thousands of students and teachers nationally and internationally every year.   

The new images are part of Euclid’s Early Release Observations. They accompany the mission’s first scientific data, which will also be made public on 23 May, and 10 forthcoming science papers. The treasure trove comes less than a year after the space telescope’s launch, and roughly six months after it returned its first full-colour images of the cosmos. 

Euclid is on a mission to uncover the secrets of dark matter and dark energy, which are thought to make up 95% of the Universe yet cannot be directly observed. To reveal the ‘dark’ influence on the visible Universe, over the next six years Euclid will observe the shapes, distances and motions of billions of galaxies out to 10 billion light-years. By doing this, it will create the largest cosmic 3D map ever made. 

Media opportunities will include, among other highlights, interviews with: ESA Science Director and ESAC Head of Establishment, Carole Mundell; and all the scientific community working on this specific mission. 

Media opportunities include:

Media opportunity with the ESA Science Director and ESAC Head of Establishment, Professor Carole Mundell  

Other Interview opportunities 
With the ESA Euclid team participating in the Euclid mission. 

Programme 23 May (all times in CEST) at ESA/ESAC – European Space Astronomy Centre, Madrid, Spain

11:00	Doors open for media
11:40 – 12:00	Welcome by Professor Carole Mundell, ESA Science Director and ESAC Head of Establishment. Presentation of ESAC & the Science Program.
12:00 – 12:05	Unveiling Euclid images in mosaic view by Dr. Gaitee Hussain,Head of the ESA Science Engagement and Oversight Office
12:05 – 12:20	Brief presentation and explanation of the images by  Dr. Jean-Charles Cuillandre, CEA/IRFU and Guillermo Buenadicha,Science Operations System Engineer, ESA
12:20 – 12:30	Presentation of All ERO scientists
12:30 – 12:50	Q & A for the media, moderator Dr. Sandra Benitez Herrera,ESAC Communication Officer, ESA.
12:50 – 14:00	Interview opportunities
14:00	End of programme

ESA spokespeople from ESA Euclid team and experts, as well as spokespeople from Euclid Consortium, will be available on site for interviews.  

The first part of the event will be in English and the presentation to the media will also be in Spanish. 

Media registration

Please express interest by 22 May at 15:00 CEST for the Euclid image and data release event, by selecting and completing the relevant form at https://blogs.esa.int/forms/esa-media-briefing-form. 

 Important: Make sure to expand the link and select the corresponding event.  Registration to the event is mandatory.  

Getting to ESAC/ Contact

https://www.esa.int/About_Us/ESAC/Getting_to_ESAC 

https://www.esa.int/About_Us/ESAC/Contact_ESAC 

Street address and postal address: 
European Space Agency(ESA) 
European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) 
Camino bajo del Castillo, s/n 
Urbanización Villafranca del Castillo 
Villanueva de la Cañada 
E-28692 Madrid, Spain 

ESAC switchboard: 
+34 91 813 11 00(3)

The event will take place at D Building at ESAC. This event will not be broadcast via streaming. 

For more information, please contact: 

For further information and for ESA interview requests, please contact ESA Newsroom and Media Relations Office- Beatriz Arias, email: media@esa.int 

The main contact point for the Euclid Consortium is Tancrède Menard. Please contact directly:  menard@iap.fr 

Further information 

Euclid press kit   

Learn more about Euclid at https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Euclid. 
More information about ESA: www.esa.int 

About Euclid 

Euclid is a European mission, built and operated by the European Space Agency ESA, with contributions from NASA. The Euclid Consortium – consisting of more than 2000 scientists from 300 institutes in 15 European countries, the US, Canada and Japan – is responsible for providing the scientific instruments and scientific data analysis. ESA selected Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor for the construction of the satellite and its service module, with Airbus Defence and Space chosen to develop the payload module, including the telescope. NASA provided the detectors of the Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer, NISP. Euclid is a medium-class mission in ESA’s Cosmic Vision Programme. 

Images 

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Search?SearchText=euclid   

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2023/02/Euclid_looking_into_the_Universe 

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images 

https://photolibrary.esa.int/home-page/ 

Terms and conditions for using ESA images: 
www.esa.int/spaceinimages/ESA_Multimedia/Copyright_Notice_Images 

For questions or more information related to ESA images, please contact directly spaceinimages@esa.int. 

Videos 

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Search?SearchText=Euclid&result_type=videos 

https://www.esa.int/esatv/Videos/2023/01/Euclid_animation_B-Rolls 

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2019/11/Euclid_animation_-_360_degree_view 

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos 

https://www.esa.int/esatv/Videos_for_Professionals 

Terms and conditions for using ESA videos: 
https://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Terms_and_Conditions 

For questions or more information related to ESA videos, please contact directly spaceinvideos@esa.int. 

Social media 

Follow ESA on:  
X: @esa @esa_es   @ESA_Euclid @esascience  
Instagram: Europeanspaceagency  
Facebook: EuropeanSpaceAgency  
YouTube: ESA  
LinkedIn: European Space Agency - ESA  
Pinterest: European Space Agency - ESA  

About the European Space Agency 

The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Europe’s gateway to space. 

ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world 

ESA has 22 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia are Associate Members. 

ESA has established formal cooperation with four Member States of the EU. Canada takes part in some ESA programmes under a Cooperation Agreement. 

By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country. It is working in particular with the EU on implementing the Galileo and Copernicus programmes as well as with Eumetsat for the development of meteorological missions. 

Learn more about ESA at www.esa.int 

For further information: 
ESA Newsroom and Media Relations Office – Beatriz Arias , Email: media@esa.int