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6mo ago

Euclid Telescope's First Data Release Maps 26 Million Galaxies

ESA's groundbreaking mission aims to unravel dark matter and dark energy mysteries with the most detailed 3D map of the universe to date.

A combination image shows examples of galaxies in different shapes, all captured by the Euclid space telescope during its first observations of three Deep Field areas of the sky, in this handout released by the European Space Agency on March 19, 2025. As part of a Euclid data release, a detailed catalogue of more than 380,000 galaxies was published, classified according to features such as spiral arms, central bars and tidal tails that infer merging galaxies. ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by M. Walmsley, M. Huertas-Company, J.-C. Cuillandre/Handout via REUTERS
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Image shows an area of a patch of sky called the Deep Field South observed by the Euclid space telescope, in this handout released by the European Space Agency on March 19, 2025. Various huge galaxy clusters are visible in this image, as well as intra-cluster light and gravitational lenses. The cluster near the center is called J041110.98-481939.3, and is located almost 6 billion light-years away. European Space Agency(ESA)/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre, E. Bertin, G. Anselmi/Handout via REUTERS
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Overview

  • The initial dataset includes observations of 26 million galaxies, with 380,000 classified by shape and distance, and 500 strong gravitational lens candidates identified.
  • Euclid's mission will map one-third of the sky, covering 1.5 billion galaxies, to study the universe's large-scale structure and the influence of dark matter and dark energy.
  • Early findings highlight the cosmic web's vast structure, shaped by dark matter and dark energy, and include rare phenomena like double gravitational lenses.
  • Advanced instruments, AI algorithms, and citizen scientists are crucial in processing the telescope's massive data stream, which generates 100 GB daily.
  • This first release represents only 0.4% of the planned survey, with the next major data release scheduled for October 2026.