New map of universe shows 100 million stars and galaxies in unprecedented detail

By Dean Murray via SWNS

A portion of a new ultra-detailed map of the universe has been unveiled.

ESA’s Euclid space mission reveals the first piece of its great map of the universe , showing millions of stars and galaxies.

This first chunk of the map, which is a huge mosaic of 208 gigapixels, was revealed on Tuesday (15 Oct) at the International Astronautical Congress in Milan, Italy, by ESA’s Director General Josef Aschbacher and Director of Science Carole Mundell.

The mosaic contains 260 observations made between March 25 and April 8, 2024. In just two weeks, Euclid covered 132 square degrees of the Southern Sky in pristine detail, more than 500 times the area of the full Moon.

This mosaic accounts for 1% of the wide survey that Euclid will capture over six years. During this survey, the telescope observes the shapes, distances and motions of billions of galaxies out to 10 billion light-years. By doing this, it will create the largest cosmic 3D map ever made.

This first piece of the map already contains around 100 million sources: stars in our Milky Way and galaxies beyond. Some 14 million of these galaxies could be used to study the hidden influence of dark matter and dark energy on the universe .

“This stunning image is the first piece of a map that in six years will reveal more than one-third of the sky. This is just 1% of the map, and yet it is full of a variety of sources that will help scientists discover new ways to describe the universe ,” says Valeria Pettorino, Euclid Project Scientist at ESA.

The spacecraft’s sensitive cameras captured an incredible number of objects in great detail. Zooming very deep into the mosaic (this image is enlarged 600 times compared to the full view), we can still clearly see the intricate structure of a spiral galaxy.

A special feature visible in the mosaic are dim clouds in between the stars in our own galaxy, they appear in light blue against the black background of space. They are a mix of gas and dust, also called “galactic cirrus” because they look like cirrus clouds. Euclid is able to see these clouds with its super sensitive visible light camera because they reflect optical light from the Milky Way. The clouds also shine in far-infrared light, as seen by ESA’s Planck mission.

The mosaic released is a teaser for what’s to come from the Euclid mission. Since the mission started its routine science observations in February, 12% of the survey has been completed. The release of 53 square degrees of the survey, including a preview of the Euclid Deep Field areas, is planned for March 2025. The mission’s first year of cosmology data will be released to the community in 2026.

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