A new 208-billion-pixel map of the universe has been unveiled, capturing 132 square degrees of the southern sky, marking the beginning of the six-year journey of the Euclid mission, which will create the largest three-dimensional map of the universe, revealing the universe in unprecedented detail.
ESA's Euclid Space Telescope released a huge mosaic on October 15, 2024, representing 1% of the wide-area survey images that the Euclid Telescope will take in six years. The position and actual size of the mosaic in the southern sky are shown in yellow. This all-sky view is an overlay of the star map from ESA Gaia's second data release in 2018 and ESA Planck's 2014 dust map. Image credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA; ESA/Gaia/DPAC; ESA/Planck Collaboration
The first part of the Euclid map, a huge 208 billion pixel mosaic, was unveiled by ESA Director Josef Aschbach and Science Director Carol Mundell at the International Astronautical Congress in Milan, Italy.
This mosaic image consists of 260 observations taken between March 25 and April 8, 2024. In just two weeks, Euclid managed to capture an area of 132 square degrees in the southern sky, with incredible clarity – an area more than 500 times larger than a full moon.
This mosaic represents only 1 percent of the wide-area surveys completed by the Euclid Telescope during its six-year mission. The telescope will map the shape, distance, and motion of billions of galaxies up to 10 billion light-years long, ultimately creating the largest three-dimensional map of the universe ever created.
The first part of the map already contains about 100 million sources: stars in our galaxy and galaxies beyond the Milky Way. About 14 million of these galaxies can be used to study the hidden effects of dark matter and dark energy on the universe.
This image provides an overview of the mosaic and enlarged image released by the ESA Euclid mission on October 15, 2024. In the upper left is a full-sky map (41,000 square degrees) with the location of the Euclid mosaic in yellow in the southern sky. In the mosaic, the location of various magnified images is shown. Above the individual images, the magnification factor is given (from 3 to 600 times magnification compared to the original mosaic image). Image credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, CEA Paris-Saclay, image credit: J.-C. Cuillandre， E. Bertin， G. Anselmi; ESA/Gaia/DPAC; ESA/Planck Collaboration
This stunning image is the first part of a map that will reveal more than a third of the sky in six years' time. Valeria Pettorino, a scientist at ESA's Euclid project, said: "It's only 1% of the map, but it's full of sources that will help scientists discover new ways to describe the universe." "
The spacecraft's sensitive camera captured a staggering amount of celestial detail. Zooming in on the mosaic to great depths (this image is 600 times larger than the panorama), we can still clearly see the intricate structure of spiral galaxies.
This mosaic photograph produced by ESA's Euclid Space Telescope contains 260 observations collected between March 25 and April 8, 2024. This is 1% of the extensive survey observations that the Euclid Telescope will make over a six-year period. In just two weeks, Euclid covered 132 square degrees of the southern sky, more than 500 times the area of the Full Moon as seen from Earth. The complete mosaic has 208 billion pixels. Image credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, CEA Paris-Saclay, Image processing: J.-C. Cuillandre， E. Bertin， G. Anselmi
A particular feature that can be seen in the mosaics is the dark clouds between the stars of the Milky Way, which appear pale blue against a black space background. They are a mixture of gas and dust and are also known as "cirrus galactic clouds" because they look like cirrus clouds. Euclid was able to see these clouds with its ultra-sensitive visible camera because they reflected optical light from the Milky Way. ESA's Planck mission also saw the clouds sparkle under the far infrared.
This photo shows an area from a mosaic image released by ESA's Euclid Space Telescope on October 15, 2024. This area is 600 times larger than the large mosaic. In this image, a spiral galaxy (ESO 364-G036) is clearly visible 420 million light-years away. This image shows 0.0003% of the initial image of 208 billion pixels, which is equivalent to 1/330000 of the area of the main mosaic image of Euclid. Image credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, CEA Paris-Saclay, image credit: J.-C. Cuillandre， E. Bertin， G. Anselmi
This image shows an area in a mosaic image released by ESA's Euclid Space Telescope on October 15, 2024. This area is 150 times larger than the large mosaic. On the left side of the image, Euclid captures two interacting galaxies (called ESO 364-G035 and G036) that are 420 million light-years away. The galaxy cluster Abell 3381 is visible on the right side of the image, 678 million light-years away. Image credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, CEA Paris-Saclay, image credit: J.-C. Cuillandre， E. Bertin， G. Anselmi
This image shows an area in a mosaic image released by the ESA Euclid Space Telescope on October 15, 2024. This area is 36 times more magnified than the large mosaic. In this image, the core of the galaxy cluster Abell 3381 can be seen, 678 million light-years away. The image shows many galaxies of different shapes and sizes, from huge elliptical galaxies to small spiral galaxies to tiny, faint dwarf galaxies. Image credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, CEA Paris-Saclay, Image processing: J.-C. Cuillandre, E. Bertin, G. Anselmi process
This image shows an area in a mosaic image released by ESA's Euclid Space Telescope on October 15, 2024. This area is 12 times more magnified than the large mosaic. In the middle left corner, the edge of the spiral galaxy NGC 2188 is clearly visible, 25 million light-years away. In the upper right corner, the galaxy cluster Abell 3381 is now clearly visible, 678 million light-years away. Image credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, CEA Paris-Saclay, image credit: J.-C. Cuillandre, E. Bertin, G. Anselmi process
This image shows an area in a mosaic image released by ESA's Euclid Space Telescope on October 15, 2024. The area is three times larger than the large mosaic. This stretch of southern sky shows the many stars in our Milky Way, as well as many galaxies beyond the Milky Way. With the help of visible and infrared cameras, Euclid captured stars of different colors: red stars are cooler, and white/blue stars are hotter. On the right side of the image, the galaxy cluster Abell 3381 can be seen, which resembles a string of galaxies. Image credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, CEA Paris-Saclay, Image processing: J.-C. Cuillandre， E. Bertin， G. Anselmi
This mosaic is a trailer for Euclid's mission. Since the start of routine scientific observations in February this year, 12% of the survey observations have been completed. The release of 53 sq km survey data is scheduled for March 2025, including preview data for the Euclid deep field area. The cosmological data for the first year of the mission will be released to the public in 2026.
这幅图显示了欧几里德广域（蓝色）和深度（黄色）巡天将覆盖的天区位置。 天空以银河系坐标系显示，明亮的水平带与银河系平面相对应，银河系的大部分恒星都居住在银河系中。 图片来源:ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA/Planck Collaboration/A. Mellinger - 致谢: Jean-Charles Cuillandre、João Dinis 和 Euclid Consortium Survey Group
When we refer to the distance in light-years, we are referring to the time it takes for light to reach our telescope in space (optical path time).
These 14 million galaxies are bright enough that Euclid could further understand the distribution of dark matter in the universe by measuring their distorted shapes (gravitational lensing). Euclid's map of galaxies also gives us an idea of dark energy, which affects how quickly the universe expands.
About Euclid
Euclid was launched in July 2023 and began routine scientific observations on February 14, 2024. In November 2023 and May 2024, Euclid's image quality was revealed to the world for the first time.
Euclid is a European mission led by ESA and supported by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The scientific work is carried out by the Euclidean Alliance, which includes more than 2,000 scientists from 15 European countries and 300 institutions in United States, Canada and Japan. The alliance is responsible for the scientific instrumentation and data analysis of the mission.
ESA selected Thales Alenia Space as the main contractor for the satellite and service module, while Airbus Defence and Space developed the payload module, including the telescope. United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) provided detectors for near-infrared spectrometers and photometers (NISPs). Euclid is a medium-sized mission in ESA's Cosmic Horizons program.
编译自/scitechdaily