Shimmering galaxies revealed in new photos by European space telescope - Los Angeles Times
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Shimmering galaxies revealed in new photos by European space telescope

The galaxy called IC 342, as seen by the European Space Agency's Euclid telescope
The galaxy called IC 342, as seen by the European Space Agency’s Euclid telescope. The space telescope will observe billions of galaxies, creating the largest 3D map ever made of the cosmos.
(European Space Agency / Associated Press)
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Scientists on Tuesday unveiled the first pictures taken by the European space telescope Euclid, a shimmering and stunning collection of galaxies too numerous to count.

The photos were revealed by the European Space Agency four months after the telescope launched from Cape Canaveral.

Although these celestial landscapes have been observed before by the Hubble Space Telescope and others, Euclid’s snapshots provide “razor-sharp astronomical images across such a large patch of the sky, and looking so far into the distant universe,” the agency said.

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In one picture, Euclid captured a group shot of 1,000 galaxies in a cluster 240 million light-years away, against a backdrop of more than 100,000 galaxies billions of light-years away. A light-year is 5.8 trillion miles.

An image shows the Euclid telescope’s view of 1,000 galaxies belonging to the Perseus Cluster.
This image provided by the European Space Agency shows the Euclid telescope’s view of 1,000 galaxies belonging to the Perseus Cluster.
(European Space Agency / Associated Press)

“Dazzling,” said the space agency’s science director, Carole Mundell, as she showed off the galaxy cluster shot on a large screen at the control center in Germany.

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Euclid’s instruments are sensitive enough to pick up the smallest galaxies, which were too faint to see until now. The results are “crystal-clear and stunning images going back in cosmic time,” Mundell said.

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The telescope snapped pictures of a relatively close spiral galaxy that is a ringer for our own Milky Way. Although the Hubble Space Telescope previously observed the heart of this galaxy, Euclid’s shot reveals star formation across the entire region, scientists said.

Euclid also took fresh photos of the Horsehead Nebula in the constellation Orion, a dramatic nursery of baby stars made famous by Hubble. It took Euclid just an hour to capture the nebula’s latest beauty shot; the five new photos accounted for less than a day of observing time.

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A panoramic view of the Horsehead Nebula as seen by Euclid, the European Space Agency's new space telescope.
A panoramic view of the Horsehead Nebula as seen by Euclid, the European Space Agency’s new space telescope.
(European Space Agency / Associated Press)

By measuring the shape and movement of galaxies as far as 10 billion light-years away, astronomers hope to learn more about the dark energy and matter that make up 95% of the universe.

The observatory will survey billions of galaxies over the next six years, creating the most comprehensive 3D map of the cosmos ever made. NASA is a partner in the $1.5-billion mission and supplied the telescope’s infrared detectors.

Launched in July, Euclid orbits the sun some 1 million miles from Earth. The telescope is named after the mathematician of ancient Greece.

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