Euclid stars at Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition

Astronomers, engineers and public engagement professionals brought Euclid: The Dark Universe Detective to more than 10,000 visitors at this year’s Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition.

The Royal Society chose to showcase the latest research from the European Space Agency (ESA)’s Euclid space telescope at its prestigious annual Summer Science Exhibition. The free, public event, which took place from 30 June to 5 July, invited world leading researchers from universities and science institutions from across the UK to showcase the latest cutting-edge science and research through hands-on activities, talks and interactive exhibits.

Led by the University of Edinburgh, in partnership with the University of Sussex and The Open University, the exhibit told the story of the Euclid mission as a ‘dark Universe detective’, shedding light on the mystery of missing matter. By mapping the sky in incredible detail, Euclid will uncover cosmic clues that will reveal information about the nature of dark matter and dark energy, helping scientists understand how the Universe evolved.

Through a series of interactives, visitors had the opportunity to journey through the visible and dark Universe, search for hidden dark matter, become massive cosmic objects to warp spacetime, make citizen science discoveries of gravitational lenses and zoom endlessly into Euclid’s stunning images of space!

The exhibition also featured some fantastic talks and performances. Professor Andy Taylor, from the University of Edinburgh, who leads the UK’s Euclid data analysis team and the mission’s gravitational lensing data analysis, was in conversation with Dr Will Coulton for ‘Cosmic Detectives’, chaired by Professor Lucie Green. An incredible drag reinterpretation of the Euclid mission was performed by Charlie Wood for ‘A queer tour of the Summer Science Exhibition’.

The exhibition showcased the breadth of research and public engagement talent, from MSc Science Communication and PhD students to postdocs and senior professors. It also highlighted the benefits of collaboration between internal colleagues across the University, and external partners, including other Universities, science centres and cultural institutions.

James Fawcett, Euclid UK Public Engagement Lead based at the University of Edinburgh, said:

This is a really exciting time for the Euclid space telescope, with our national outreach programme growing just as the first cosmological results from the mission approach ever closer! I’m looking forward to seeing how our attendance at Summer Science can be the catalyst that extends our reach even further.

Euclid: The Dark Universe Detective will tour flagship events and science festivals in the coming months ahead of the space telescope’s first data release in the autumn and some exciting cosmological results which are expected next summer. Learn more in the link below, which also contains an online exhibition.