What galactic wonders has Euclid spotted so far?

The Euclid space telescope turned its gaze to various objects in space, including massive clusters of galaxies and vibrant stellar nurseries.

The European Space Agency (ESA) shared a peak at the work its Euclid space telescope has been doing since its launch, with a batch of incredible images of the universe.

These five detailed images were revealed to show the versatility of Euclid, which is on a mission to probe some of the biggest mysteries of the universe such as dark matter and dark energy. The images shared by the ESA include distant galaxy clusters, stellar nurseries and galactic mergers in stunning detail.

But these images serve a grander purpose than just being visually breathtaking – scientists are peering deep into the objects and data from Euclid’s observations to understand more about the universe.

Let’s take a look at these five images in greater detail, examining exactly what the images are and what researchers hope to uncover from them.

The Abell galaxy cluster

The Abell 2390 galaxy cluster, a giant conglomeration of many galaxies like the Milky Way. Image: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J-C Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G Anselmi

This image shows Abell 2390, a cluster of more than 50,000 galaxies that reminds us of the unfathomable scale of the cosmos.

The image also gives us a good example of gravitational lensing – where the light travelling to us from distant galaxies is bent and distorted by gravity. The ESA said this lensing leads to curved arcs in the image and that some of these arcs are multiple views of the same distant object.

This gravitational lensing is a key technique for space telescopes when observing deep into the universe – similar lensing can be observed in one of the early images shown by the James Webb Space Telescope.

The ESA said this lensing is used to indirectly measure the amount and distribution of dark matter both in galaxy clusters and elsewhere. Scientists are also studying how the masses and numbers of galaxy clusters of the sky have changed over time to reveal more about the history and evolution of the universe.

Messier 78

Messier 78, a vibrant nursery of star formation enveloped in a shroud of interstellar dust. Image: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J-C Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G Anselmi

This image shows Messier 78, described by the ESA as a vibrant stellar nursery enveloped in interstellar dust. It is in regions such as this that researchers can observe the process of star formation – thanks to infrared cameras on telescopes such as Euclid.

Euclid used its equipment to peer deep into Messier 78, exposing hidden regions of star formation, mapping its complex filaments of gas and dust and uncovering newly formed stars and planets.

The ESA said Euclid spotted more than 300,000 new objects in this single field of view, which can be analysed by scientists to learn the dynamics of how star populations form and change over time.

NGC 6744

NGC 6744, one of the largest spiral galaxies beyond our local patch of space. Image: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J-C Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G Anselmi

This image shows the spiral galaxy known as NGC 6744, which the ESA says is an archetype of the type of galaxy forming most stars in the local universe.

Euclid’s image shows the entire spiral structure of the galaxy, while revealing the exquisite detail of smaller elements such as lanes of dust emerging from its spiral arms.

Scientists are using this dataset to understand how dust and gas are linked to star formation, while learning more about star distribution and unravelling the physics behind the structure of spiral galaxies – a concept is not yet fully understood.

Abell 2764

This shows the galaxy cluster Abell 2764 (top right). Image: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J-C Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G Anselmi

This image shows the galaxy cluster Abell 2764 on the top right, which comprises hundreds of galaxies surrounded by a vast halo of dark matter. But this image also shows various background objects such as more distant clusters and interacting galaxies.

This complete view of Abell 2764 and its surroundings is thanks to Euclid’s wide field of view and will help scientists learn the radius of the galaxy cluster.  The image also shows a very bright foreground star that lies within our own galaxy.

Dorado Group

The Dorado Group of galaxies. Image: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J-C Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G Anselmi

This image shows galaxies evolving and merging together in the Dorado galaxy group. It shows tidal tails thanks to ongoing interactions between the galaxies, which is helping researchers learn how galaxies evolve and to model the history of the cosmos.

Scientists are also looking into the image to find distant individual clusters of stars known as globular clusters, to trace their galactic history and dynamics.

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