Euclid space telescope sends 'stunning' first image for map of visible universe

Euclid project to create the largest three-dimensional map of the universe yet made

Euclid's image will form the first piece of its great cosmic map. PA

A “stunning" mosaic image that will become the first section of the most detailed 3D map of the visible universe yet has been taken by the Euclid space telescope.

The three-dimensional image, made up of 208 gigapixels of data, reveals 14 million galaxies in high detail, but it only accounts for one per cent of the job Euclid will do.

“This stunning image is the first piece of a map that in six years will reveal more than one third of the sky," said European Space Agency (ESA) Euclid project scientist Valeria Pettorino. “This is just one per cent of the map, and yet it is full of a variety of sources that will help scientists discover new ways to describe the universe.”

The map will shed light on two of the universe's greatest mysteries: dark energy and dark matter, ESA said.

Dark matter is made up of particles that do not absorb, reflect or emit light. Dark energy is believed to be pushing galaxies apart, causing the expansion of the universe to accelerate.

“The Euclid mission is a major step forward in our understanding of the dark universe. The images Euclid is capturing are a treasure trove of information that will help us unravel the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy,” said Dr Jesper Skottfelt, research fellow at Open Universit.

Euclid has a special feature that allows it to see and image galactic cirrus clouds and use reflecting light from the Milky Way.

The optical camera, called VIS, was designed and built by an international team led by researchers at University College London (UCL) and the Open University.

Professor Mat Page, at UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory, said: “Before Euclid, nobody had made an image of such a large area of sky at such high resolution. Even the zoomed in images don't show the full resolution of Euclid's spectacular VIS camera.

“Before Euclid, we would never be able to see the faint cirrus clouds in the Milky Way, and pick out every star that's illuminating them in super-high resolution.

“And this is just a tiny fraction of the full area that Euclid is going to survey, so by the end we'll have a real astronomical harvest of discoveries.”

Launched in July 2023, the Euclid mission's goal is to create a 3D map of the universe by observing two billion galaxies, which will help scientists understand its cosmic history.