The current standard model of cosmology successfully describes a variety of measurements, but the nature of its main ingredients, dark matter and dark energy, remains unknown.Euclidis a medium-class mission in the Cosmic Vision 2015–2025 programme of the European Space Agency (ESA) that will provide high-resolution optical imaging, as well as near-infrared imaging and spectroscopy, over about 14 000 deg2of extragalactic sky. In addition to accurate weak lensing and clustering measurements that probe structure formation over half of the age of the Universe, its primary probes for cosmology, these exquisite data will enable a wide range of science. This paper provides a high-level overview of the mission, summarising the survey characteristics, the various data-processing steps, and data products. We also highlight the main science objectives and expected performance.
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The Matter Beyond the Ring: The Recent Evolution of SN 1987A Observed by the Hubble Space Telescope
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ABSTRACT Rhadinichthysis one of the most wide-ranging and speciose genera of Palaeozoic actinopterygians. A classic variety of ‘palaeoniscoid’,Rhadinichthysspecies are generally small (~10–15 cm) and known mostly from dermal skeletal remains that show features commonplace among early ray-finned fishes. For this reason, the genus has long been considered a poorly diagnosed wastebasket taxon in need of revision and rarely included in systematic analyses. In the present work, syntypes ofRhadinichthys ornatissimus, the type species, are re-examined and supplemented with better-preserved material from other localities in the Scottish Midland Valley. A neotype is nominated and a more precise diagnosis presented with a suite of genus-level apomorphies. Unexpectedly, these traits are also evident in the monotypic Lower Carboniferous actinopterygian genusWoodichthys, which the neotype ofR. ornatissimusclosely resembles. As a result, the genusWoodichthysis subsumed within the redefinedRhadinichthys, and the singleWoodichthysspecies is reassigned asR. bearsdeni, comb. nov., bringing with it a set of endoskeletal data. Some of these data are new, derived from μCT scans of the skull of theR. bearsdeniholotype, yielding renderings that update the original description of its skull table, parasphenoid, neurocranium, and otoliths. Further new data concerning the hyoid arch are obtained from a new specimen ofR. bearsdenifrom a site close by the original Bearsden locality. Redefined in this way,Rhadinichthyspresents a data-rich operational taxonomic unit better suited for systematic studies. However, in so doing, it also releases a cluster of fossil species no longer anchored to a genus and now in need of rediagnoses.more » « less
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