ESA releases new photographs taken by European space observatory Euclid.
Shimmering galaxies and a splendid star nursery: the European Space Agency (ESA) recently unveiled pictures from the Euclid space telescope. This is the second occasion since the Euclid launch in July last year that the ESA has shown off images from the telescope.
The image of the galaxy cluster Abell 2390, standing 2.7 billion light years away from Earth, is particularly intriguing for René Laureijs, scientific project manager at Euclid. The picture features over 50,000 galaxies, each possibly holding billions or even trillions of stars.
This galactic cluster bears the mass of roughly ten trillion suns, as stated by Jason Rhodes of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory during a virtual press conference on Thursday. The image also suggests signs of dark matter. It can only be spotted indirectly through its gravitational impact on how light is bent around it.
Another astounding image provided by Euclid exhibits Messier 78, a star nursery about 1,300 light years away from Earth. The bluish-purple core of the picture displays stars being born within the purple and orange clouds at the picture's base over the course of millions of years. Euclid is capable of presenting this process in one frame alone, highlighted project manager Laureijs.
The aim of Euclid is to delve into two of the universe's greatest mysteries: the undetectable dark matter and the enigmatic, dark energy. Euclid journeyed into space last July, embarking on a SpaceX rocket to examine these cosmic conundrums. Once in orbit, it will analyze up to two billion galaxies from a unique spot in space known as the Lagrange point 2, which sits at a distance of 1.5 million kilometers from Earth.
The mission is to produce the most precise three-dimensional map of the sky ever produced. The telescope will peer back ten billion years into the cosmic past, examining the evolution of the universe and its darkest mysteries. This 1.9 billion euro exploration is slated to last at least until 2029, if all goes as planned.
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- The Euclid space telescope, managed by the European Space Agency (ESA), has also captured mesmerizing images of the star kindergarten Messier 78, located approximately 1,300 light years away.
- ESA, in collaboration with other space agencies, is utilizing Euclid to investigate the existence of dark matter, as can be seen from the images of galaxies and galaxy clusters, such as Messier 78 and Abell 2390.
- To further advance our understanding of the universe, future space telescopes like Euclid will continue to provide high-quality pictures, enabling astrophysicists to study star formations in structures like Messier 78 and wrestle with the enigma of dark matter.
Source: www.ntv.de
