The Euclid spacecraft captures 26 million galaxies in just one week

Euclid spacecraft captures 26M galaxies within a week, providing vast insights for cosmic exploration.

: The European Space Agency's Euclid mission has mapped 63 square degrees of the sky, revealing 26 million galaxies within just one week of observations. Data showcases diverse galaxies extending up to 10.5 billion light-years away, and plans are in place to revisit these areas, enriching the cosmic web's understanding by 2030. The mission employs advanced tools like the Visible Imaging System (VIS) and near-infrared instrument (NISP) to analyze dark matter and dark energy. AI and citizen science, as noted by Mike Walmsley, are crucial for tackling the extensive dataset generated by Euclid.

In a remarkable accomplishment, the European Space Agency's Euclid spacecraft has made significant strides in cosmic exploration, capturing imagery of 26 million galaxies within just one week of surveying the cosmos. These observations covered 63 square degrees of the sky, featuring galaxies at varying distances, some as far as 10.5 billion light-years away. According to Prof. Carole Mundell, Director of Science at ESA, this marks Euclid as the "ultimate discovery machine," unveiling the galaxy's vast structures within the cosmic web and facilitating insights into the forces shaping the universe.

The data extends across three mosaic images, exposing a plethora of galaxy clusters, active galactic nuclei, and transient astronomical phenomena such as supernovae and gamma-ray bursts. The scope of Euclid's mission is ambitious, targeting to create a grand cosmic atlas of 14,000 square degrees, equivalent to one-third of the entire sky in high-quality detail. ESA's Euclid project scientist, Valeria Pettorino, emphasized the scale of this undertaking, noting that the observations will revisit deep fields up to 52 times over the mission's six years to refine and enhance the cosmic survey data by 2030, expecting groundbreaking discoveries.

Equipped with advanced technology, Euclid employs the Visible Imaging System (VIS) to obtain high-resolution images, while the near-infrared instrument (NISP) measures galaxy distances. Together, these tools offer critical insights into the cosmic web, contributing essential data on dark matter and dark energy, which compose approximately 95% of the universe. As the mission progresses, ESA expects to collect images from over 1.5 billion galaxies, generating a substantial 100 GB of data daily.

Tackling the immense data collected requires innovative approaches, integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and citizen science. Mike Walmsley, a Euclid Consortium scientist, remarked on the pivotal role of AI, which, together with citizen science, is necessary for deep analysis and deriving meaningful insights from Euclid's extensive dataset. This methodology not only enhances data processing capabilities but also reflects a shift in astronomical surveys, opening new frontiers in cosmic exploration.

In addition to revealing cosmic structures, Euclid is invaluable for studying gravitational lensing, discovering 500 strong lens candidates, most previously unknown. By leveraging AI, citizen science, and expert assessments, the mission aims to identify thousands more during its lifespan. These explorations are set to yield first cosmological data by October 2026, providing unprecedented insights into gravitational phenomena and further advancing our understanding of the universe's fundamental nature.

Sources: European Space Agency, Science News, TechSpot

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