Discovering the Universe with Euclid Space Telescope
Exploring the Night Sky: Recently, the European Space Agency unveiled a mesmerizing mosaic of the night sky captured by the Euclid space telescope. This stunning image is a compilation of 260 observations taken between March 25 and April 8, 2024, covering 132 square degrees of the southern sky. Despite being more than 500 times larger than the full Moon, this snapshot represents only a fraction of the vast cosmic survey that Euclid will conduct during its six-year mission.
The Euclid mission began on July 1, 2023, with a successful launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Equipped with a 600-megapixel camera, Euclid aims to map over a third of the sky, stretching out to 10 billion light-years. Over the upcoming years, it will create the most extensive 3D cosmic map ever envisioned.
The ESA’s published snippet showcases a staggering 100 million stars and galaxies, highlighting the vastness of our universe. This image boasts an impressive 208 gigapixels, offering a closer look at the core of the galaxy cluster Abell 3381, situated 470 million light-years away.
At 150x zoom, the intricate details of the spiral galaxy cluster become apparent, but it’s not until 600x zoom that the true beauty of this cosmic structure is revealed. Even at 600x magnification, we are only exploring a minuscule 0.0003 percent of the immense 208 gigapixel image.
Exciting Updates Ahead:
The ESA teases more incredible discoveries from Euclid in the pipeline. By March 2025, they plan to release 53 square degrees of the survey, including a sneak peek at the Euclid Deep Field regions. This deep survey, consuming 10 percent of the telescope’s observation time, will involve multiple observations of three specific sky patches.
For now, the highest resolution image available is 11K x 11K and can be accessed on the ESA’s website. Stay tuned for further updates and mind-blowing revelations from the Euclid space telescope!
