The European Space Agency (ESA) has released its first tranche of data from the Euclid space telescope’s mission to map the universe’s large-scale structure. The data, covering a survey area 300 times larger than the moon as viewed from Earth, provides insights into the nature of dark energy and dark matter.
Launched in 2023, the six-year mission aims to create a grand atlas of the cosmos in exquisite detail, spanning over a third of the sky. The first release includes observations of three patches of the sky populated by galaxies, which represent just one week’s worth of data but cover 26 million galaxies up to 10.5 billion light-years away.
According to astrophysicist Carole Mundell, Euclid is like a “dark detective” that helps scientists understand the mysterious components of the universe. The telescope measures galaxy shapes and distribution using its high-resolution imaging instrument, while its near-infrared instrument determines distances and masses.
The data hints at the large-scale organization of galaxies in the cosmic web, a structure that offers clues about dark matter and dark energy. Researchers have identified strong gravitational lenses, which can be used to study how dark matter is distributed. The next Euclid data release, planned for October 2026, will cover an area 30 times larger than the current release.
The Euclid mission is expected to obtain images of over 1.5 billion galaxies and contribute significantly to our understanding of the universe’s expansion, structure, and composition.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/science/euclid-mission-data-release-is-step-toward-grand-atlas-cosmos-2025-03-19