Since its launch in July, the European Euclid space telescope has taken us on a fascinating journey through the universe. Indeed, the first images revealed by Euclid are simply astonishing. Among these photos, we can admire the Horsehead Nebula, a natural wonder located in the constellation Orion. But that’s not all, Euclid also shows us distant galaxies, never observed before.
Euclid’s mission is to understand the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy, two components that represent the vast majority of the universe but about which we know very little. Euclid thus mapped a third of the sky, which corresponds to around two billion galaxies, to create a precise 3D map of the universe.
The first images sent by Euclid are both dazzling and inspiring. They remind us why it is so important to explore space to learn more about the mysteries of the universe. René Laureijs, scientific manager of the project, affirms that the most exciting image is that of the Perseus cluster, which brings together more than a thousand galaxies. In the background of this image, more than 100,000 additional galaxies can be seen, some located as far as 10 billion light years away.
What makes Euclid so special is its extraordinarily wide field of view, never before seen in the history of astronomy. While the James Webb Space Telescope peers through the eye of a needle to explore the early ages of the universe, Euclid captures vast, high-resolution images in record time. The first five images taken by Euclid were taken in just eight hours.
The ESA describes Euclid as the “Dark Universe Detective,” tasked with investigating dark matter and dark energy. Early Euclid observations have already revealed indirect evidence for the existence of dark matter, such as the absence of stars in the globular cluster NGC 6397. According to René Laureijs, this suggests that there could be dark matter. dark matter around this cluster.
The next images from Euclid will be released in January, and the European Space Telescope mission will continue until at least 2029.
Euclid therefore offers us an exceptional opportunity to discover the mysteries of the universe. Thanks to its fascinating images, we can explore regions never seen before and perhaps learn more about the dark matter and dark energy that make up much of our universe.