00:00 Dark matter.
00:05 Despite experts theorizing it actually accounts for most matter in the universe, there's still
00:09 very little we know about it.
00:11 In fact, we're not even 100% sure it exists.
00:14 However soon, that could all change, as the Euclid Space Telescope has finally made its
00:18 one million mile journey into its observational orbit, and now taken its first pictures of
00:23 space.
00:24 This is the first image sent back from the telescope, one its operators say is just a
00:29 test, as the telescope is still in its tuning period.
00:31 So how is it going to help astronomers better understand dark matter?
00:34 Well, the Euclid Space Telescope is set to begin assembling the biggest universal map
00:39 ever produced.
00:40 It's going to be capturing and stitching together images of upwards of 2 billion galaxies.
00:45 That includes taking in and revealing light sources that have traveled 10 billion years
00:49 to reach it.
00:50 The telescope's mission includes mapping a third of the entire sky, capturing both the
00:54 visible and infrared spectrums of light.
00:57 The visible spectrum allows astronomers to better see the shapes of the galaxies under
01:01 investigation, and the infrared lets them gauge distance.
01:04 Experts are hoping that better mapping space will unveil some of its secrets, including
01:08 dark matter, which is believed to make up around 80% of all mass in the universe.
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