Exploring the Celestial Compendium: A Million Galaxies Unveiled in the Universe's Map
The "Euclid" mission, led by the European Space Agency (ESA), aims to create the largest 3D representation of the cosmos to date. The initial segment of this celestial directory is now available. It encompasses numerous galaxies, numbering millions.
ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher and Science Director Carole Mundell unveiled this celestial chart at a space conference in Milan last year. The intricate mosaic was compiled from observations made by Euclid's space telescope during a two-week period in March and April 2024.
This captivating image represents approximately 1% of the sky area the telescope intends to chart over a six-year duration. The ambitious project aims to construct the largest 3D map of the universe, showcasing billions of galaxies within a distance of ten billion light-years. This recently unveiled portion of the southern sky spans an area equivalent to 500 times the surface of the full moon, as announced by ESA.
The Distribution of Matter in the Universe
The image features roughly 14 million galaxies and tens of millions of stars within our own galaxy, the Milky Way. "This remarkable image marks the beginning of a map that will expose over a third of the sky within six years," shared Valeria Pettorino, ESA's Euclid project scientist.
The Euclid space telescope was launched into orbit in July of the previous year. It is equipped with two cameras – one for visible light wavelengths and one for near-infrared light wavelengths. These cameras will monitor the movements and shapes of galaxies while also helping to determine the distances of galaxies.
The primary objective of these observations is to elucidate how matter is dispersed across the cosmos over vast distances and to examine the evolution of the universe's expansion. ESA seeks to explore the universe's development over the past ten billion years to gain insights into the properties of dark energy and dark matter.
ESA has released numerous Euclid images throughout the past year.
The Euclid mission, led by the European Space Agency (ESA), is an ambitious project that involves the European Union. This international collaboration aims to create the largest 3D representation of the cosmos, showcasing billions of galaxies within a distance of ten billion light-years.
At a space conference in Milan, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher and Science Director Carole Mundell from the European Union unveiled the initial segment of this celestial directory.
