CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Scientists unveiled a captivating collection of galaxy images taken by the European space telescope Euclid on Tuesday, offering a shimmering spectacle of countless galaxies.
The European Space Agency shared these images four months after Euclid’s launch from Cape Canaveral. While similar celestial vistas have been observed by telescopes like Hubble, Euclid’s snapshots present “razor-sharp astronomical images across such an extensive swath of the sky, delving deep into the distant universe,” noted the space agency.
One of Euclid’s remarkable images showcases a group of 1,000 galaxies in a cluster located 240 million light-years away, set against a backdrop of over 100,000 galaxies situated billions of light-years distant. To put it in perspective, one light-year equals 5.8 trillion miles.
“These images are simply dazzling,” exclaimed Carole Mundell, the space agency’s science director, as she displayed the photograph of the galaxy cluster on a large screen at the control center in Germany.
Euclid’s advanced instruments are exceptionally sensitive, capable of capturing the faintest galaxies that were previously invisible. The results present “crystal-clear and striking images that transport us back in time through the cosmos,” stated Mundell.
The telescope also provided detailed images of a nearby spiral galaxy that closely resembles our own Milky Way. While the Hubble Space Telescope had previously examined the core of this galaxy, Euclid’s image reveals star formation across the entire region, according to scientists.
Euclid also turned its lens towards the Horsehead Nebula in the Orion constellation, which is renowned as a stellar nursery of young stars, a subject made famous by Hubble.
Astronomers aim to gain insights into the universe’s composition, with 95% consisting of dark energy and matter, by analyzing the shape and movement of galaxies located as far as 10 billion light-years away.
Over the next six years, the observatory will conduct a comprehensive survey of billions of galaxies, constructing the most intricate 3D map of the cosmos. NASA is a collaborative partner in this $1.5 billion mission and contributed the telescope’s infrared detectors.
Euclid, launched in July, orbits the Sun at a distance of approximately 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) from Earth. The telescope is named after the ancient Greek mathematician.
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
