The Euclid mission has unveiled the initial segment of a groundbreaking 3D map of the universe, showcasing 14 million galaxies and tens of millions of stars with remarkable clarity. “Launched in 2023, the Euclid mission is managed by the European Space Agency (ESA) with contributions from NASA. It transmitted its first images in November of that year and again in May 2024,” reports The Guardian. “The objective of Euclid is to facilitate the creation of a 3D map in both time and space of the universe, aiming to clarify its evolution and illuminate the enigmatic phenomena of dark energy and dark matter, which together constitute 95% of the universe.”

According to the report, the newly released data forms a mosaic of 208 gigapixels, covering 1% of what will ultimately be the final map. The completed project is anticipated to require six years of observations and will encompass a third of the sky, capturing billions of galaxies up to 10 billion light-years away. […] ESA has released images that illustrate the area of the sky encompassed by the new mosaic, along with the mosaic itself and detailed zoomed-in views. ESA noted that the light blue regions visible in the mosaic represent galactic cirrus clouds situated between stars in the Milky Way. These delicate clouds, made up of gas and dust, reflect optical light, which allows them to be captured by the mission’s highly sensitive visible light camera. Upon further zooming into the mosaic, additional features emerge, including the spiral galaxy NGC 2188 and the galaxy cluster Abell 3381. In a view magnified 600 times compared to the original mosaic, a distant swirling galaxy can be seen in astonishing detail. Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n Ar3n