The European Space Agency's Euclid mission takes images of the universe that reveal new science

ESA's Euclid space mission publishes unprecedented new images of the universe. Never-before-seen images demonstrate Euclid's ability to unlock the secrets of the universe and allow scientists to search for rogue planets, use lensed galaxies to study mysterious matter, and explore the evolution of the universe.

The new images are part of Euclid's early publication notes. It accompanies the mission's first science data, which has now also been published. This treasure comes less than a year after the space telescope was launched, and about six months after the first full-color images of the universe were sent back.

“Euclid is a unique and innovative mission, and these are the first data sets that will be made public; it's an important milestone,” says Valeria Petorino, Euclid project scientist at the European Space Agency. “The images and associated scientific results are impressively diverse in terms of things.” monitored and distances. It includes a variety of scientific applications, but represents only 24 hours of observations. It gives just a hint of what Euclid can do. We look forward to six more years of data to come!

The complete set of initial observations focused on 17 astronomical objects, From nearby gas and dust clouds to distant galaxy clusters, before the main survey of Euclid. This study aims to uncover the secrets of the dark universe and reveal how and why the universe looks the way it does today.

“This space telescope aims to answer the biggest open questions in cosmology,” Valeria adds. “These early observations clearly show that Euclid is up to the task.”

Unprecedented results

Euclid would trace the hidden foundations of the universe in the form of a grid, You will map billions of galaxies Across more than a third of the sky, it will explore how the universe formed and evolved throughout cosmic history and study its most mysterious fundamental components: dark energy and dark matter.

Images obtained by Euclid They are at least four times sharper than those that can be captured with ground-based telescopes. It covers vast areas of the sky with unparalleled depth, looking at the distant universe using visible and infrared light.

“It is no exaggeration to say that the results we are seeing from Euclid are unprecedented,” says Professor Carol Mundell, ESA's chief scientific officer. “The first Euclid images, published in November, clearly demonstrated the telescope's enormous potential for exploring the dark universe, and this second installment is no different.

“The beauty of Euclid's pictures is that It covers large areas of the sky with wonderful detail and depth, It can capture a wide range of different objects, all in the same image: from faint to bright, from far to near, and from the most massive. Galaxy clusters to minor planets. We get a very detailed and very wide view at the same time. “This amazing diversity has led to many new scientific findings that, when combined with the results of Euclid studies in the coming years, will dramatically change our understanding of the universe.”

While the images are visually stunning, they are much more than just pretty shots; It reveals new physical properties of the universe thanks to Euclid's unique new capabilities.

The first results show that Euclid is capable of this Search star-forming regions for “rogue” planets. Which floats freely and has a mass of only four times that of Jupiter; studying the outer regions of star clusters in unprecedented detail; He mapped different groups of stars to explore how galaxies evolve over time. It reveals how a space telescope can detect individual star groups in distant groups and galaxy clusters; identifying a rich harvest of new dwarf galaxies; See the light of stars ripped from parent galaxies, and much more.

Euclid produced this first catalog in a single day, detecting more than 11 million objects in visible light and another five million objects in infrared light. This catalog has led to important scientific developments. “Euclid demonstrates European superiority in cutting-edge science and technology, and demonstrates the importance of international cooperation,” says ESA Director General Joseph Aschbacher. “The mission is the result of many years of hard work Scientists, engineers and industrialists from all over Europe and members of the Euclid Science Consortium from around the world, brought together by the European Space Agency. They can be proud of this achievement: the results are no small feat for such an ambitious mission and such complex basic science. “Euclid is at the beginning of his exciting journey to map the structure of the universe.”