Euclid’s Galactic Achievement: A Peek at the Cosmos
Ah, the cosmos! You know, the vast expanse where all your ex-girlfriend’s unanswered texts drift off into oblivion! Today, the spotlight shines on the Euclid satellite—not the juvenile state of the universe’s dating life, but rather a sophisticated piece of engineering on a quest to map just 1% of that vastness, and already it’s flipping the research community on its head!
The European Space Agency (ESA) has dropped a celestial mosaic that covers a whopping 132 square degrees! That’s 500 times the area of the full moon. Not just a simple Google Maps update, mind you! We’re talking about a magnificent 208 gigapixels—imagine trying to upload that to Instagram. Time-lapse videos of glaciers would seem like cat videos in comparison!
(Note: Anyone caught scrolling TikTok while contemplating a cosmic tapestry gets a one-way ticket to space.)
Exploration with a Twist
The first image was unveiled during the International Astronautical Congress in Milan. Fancy, right? Only in this case, the runway didn’t have any models; it had a hundred million stars instead! Yes, you heard it! A magnificent circus of 14 million galaxies flickering through the vastness of space, all just hanging out while we squint at our Wi-Fi routers, praying for a faster connection.
Euclid uses two on-board instruments—the Visible Instrument (Vis) and the Near Infrared Spectrometer Photometer (Nisp). Think of them as the keen-eyed detectives of the cosmic mystery, gathering intel on the galaxies behaving badly, and, of course, the ever-elusive dark matter that seems to have been ghosting us for millennia.
Galaxies Galore!
And boy, are there galaxies! With the phrase “gravitational lens effect” thrown in to sound extra science-y, the Euclid satellite reveals galaxies distorted by dark matter in between. So, it’s like looking at a funhouse mirror version of the universe—now that’s a party trick if I’ve ever seen one!
Speaking of parties, the galactic cirrus clouds look like a late-night rave, but without the hangover (unless you count studying them at 3 AM). These beautiful, bluish clouds of interstellar gas and dust show up nicely thanks to that fancy telescope tech. Next time someone asks you why you can’t see the stars, just say, “I was too busy admiring cosmic cirrus!” and watch them blink in confusion.
Data Dazzle
With a dizzying series of zooms from 3 to 600 magnifications, the data collected by Euclid is like your least favorite aunt at Thanksgiving—here, there, everywhere, and a tad overwhelming! It’s a cosmic journey not just to peer into the great beyond but to unearth the very mysteries of the universe.
“This is just a taste,” scholars drool, as only 12% of the survey is complete. Good luck waiting until March 2026 for the cosmic fast food drive-thru! Perhaps next time, they’ll offer instant downloads for the impatient or, dare I say, a monthly subscription plan? Who wouldn’t want to subscribe to cosmos on demand?
A Cosmic Tribute
Amidst this dazzling technology, the Italian Euclid community has dedicated the preview survey to Bianca Garilli. A true pioneer in this cosmic effort, Bianca helped pave the way for understanding the instruments aboard Euclid. Think of her as the cosmic guardian, quietly making sure no galaxies were left behind while also preparing a phenomenal legacy for astronomers. Here’s hoping the universe throws in a few extra stars for her hard work!
Conclusion
In a nutshell, Euclid isn’t just taking pictures; it’s carving a three-dimensional map of the universe! So, the next time you gaze at the night sky, remember it’s not just a few twinkly lights—it’s a bustling metropolis of galaxies exploring their own cosmic dreams. You may feel small, but the revelations of the universe are seemingly endless. Perhaps it’s time to rethink that existential crisis?
It is only one percent of the great map of the cosmos that the Euclid satellite is intent on building, yet it is already astonishing the research community involved in this massive undertaking. The first celestial mosaic released by the European Space Agency (ESA) mission covers 132 square degreesequal to over 500 times the area of the full moon in the sky, for a total of 208 gigapixel.
Mosaic of 260 observations made by Euclid between 25 March and 8 April 2024. Credits: Esa/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/Nasa, Cea Paris-Saclay, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre, E. Bertin, G. Anselmi. CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
The new image, published today by ESA on the occasion of the International Astronautical Congress underway in Milan, combines observations obtained between 25 March and 8 April this year with the two on-board instruments, the Visible Instrument (Vis) and the Near Infrared Spectrometer Photometer (Nisp). They peep out at you about one hundred million astronomical sourcesbetween galaxies – tens, hundreds and thousands of millions of light years away – and stars belonging to our galaxy, the Milky Way. About 14 million galaxies visible in this mosaic will be used to study the gravitational lens effect caused by the invisible dark matter interposed between the galaxies and us who observe them, which amplifies and slightly distorts the images.
Zoom on a portion of the first mosaic released by the Euclid mission. On the right, the galaxy cluster Abell 3381 is visible as a sort of “string of pearls”. Credits: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/Nasa, Cea Paris-Saclay, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre, E. Bertin, G. Anselmi. CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
In the foreground, many stars of our galaxy can be distinguished thanks to the characteristic six-pointed shape introduced by the telescope’s optics. Furthermore, a faint diffuse nebulosity of a bluish color stands out, also of a galactic nature: these are clouds of interstellar gas and dust also called “galactic cirrus clouds” due to their appearance which recalls that of the cirrus clouds present in the Earth’s atmosphere.
A series of progressive zooms, from 3 to 600 magnifications, illustrate the extraordinary degree of detail present in the data collected by Euclid. The mission is in fact able to immortalize at the same time the large-scale structure of the Universe, dotted with clusters of galaxies – such as Abell 3381, over 600 million light-years away, portrayed in one of the enlargements – but also to capture the characteristics of individual galaxies, presented in the deeper enlargements.
«This first, large mosaic of a region of sky obtained by stitching together more than 260 Euclid pointings is truly a milestone: it is the first time that the image of such a large area of sky has been obtained and shown, with a similar depth, observed in these bands and with this quality”, he comments Roberto Scaramella of the National Institute of Astrophysics (Inaf) in Rome, head of the team that deals with the survey conducted by Euclid. «This shows us how the sky is full of different galaxies, from the beautiful and nearby ones to the rather small, faint and distant ones that we can see by zooming in on the image. It is the latter, galaxies at great distances, that are the main focus of Euclid’s cosmological studies. However, as can easily be seen, the enormous amount of data and its great variety and quality will allow most fields of astronomy to make enormous progress thanks to Euclid.”
Euclid image of the galaxy cluster Abell 3381, whose light traveled about 678 million light years before reaching us. This zoom was obtained at 12x magnification from the mosaic of observations. Credits: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/Nasa, Cea Paris-Saclay, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre, E. Bertin, G. Anselmi. CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
The mosaic published today is just a taste of Euclid’s potential. Since the start of the scientific campaign last February, the mission has already completed 12% of the survey. The next stage is scheduled for March 2025, with the publication of a first portion of the data, equal to 53 square degrees, which will also include a preview of the Euclid Deep Fields, regions of the sky dedicated to deeper observations. The first year of data for the cosmological analysis, however, will be made public in 2026.
Italy is strongly involved in the mission, with the Italian Space Agency, INAF, the National Institute of Nuclear Physics and numerous Italian universities. INAF in particular has the important task of coordinating Euclid’s scientific ground segment, i.e. the complex system of planning, processing and reduction of the immense amount of data collected by the probe.
«We already have in our hands about 2000 square degrees, more than ten times the area shown in this image» he adds Andrea Zacchei of the INAF of Trieste, manager of the scientific ground segment of Euclid. «All the institutes involved in the ground segment that I coordinate are working intensely to extract information in order to create the largest and most detailed three-dimensional map of our Universe. Obviously we do all this with increasingly complex dedicated algorithms but every time I stop to look at one of these images I am simply struck by their beauty.”
A series of progressive zooms, from 3 to 600 magnifications, to explore the new image of Euclid in detail, from the large-scale cosmic structure to that of individual galaxies. Credits: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/Nasa, Cea Paris-Saclay, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre, E. Bertin, G. Anselmi. CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
Over the course of six years, Euclid will observe billions of galaxies at disparate cosmic distances, to probe the last ten billion years of the Universe’s history. By measuring the shape, distance and motion of galaxies, the mission will build the largest 3D map of the cosmos, studying the effects of dark matter and of thedark energy on ordinary matter to try to understand the nature of these mysterious, invisible components that permeate the Universe.
The Italian Euclid community has decided to dedicate this preview of the survey to the memory of Bianca GarilliINAF astronomer who recently passed away. Involved in Euclid from the very early stages of the proposal, in particular regarding the Nisp instrument and the creation of the software for the processing of spectroscopic data, she left a legacy of knowledge and skills on the mission that allowed her working group to provide a fundamental contribution to the preparation of pipeline of the ground segment.
Euclid image of the interacting galaxies Eso 364-G035 and G036, whose light traveled 420 million light-years before reaching us. On the right, some galaxies of the Abell 3381 cluster. This zoom was obtained with a magnification of 150 times from the mosaic. Credits: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/Nasa, Cea Paris-Saclay, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre, E. Bertin, G. Anselmi. CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
«Bianca’s contribution was very important in demonstrating the technical and scientific feasibility of the most complex part of the Euclid project, that of the spectroscopic survey», notes Marco Scodeggio of the INAF of Milan. «This was followed by his participation in defining the performance requirements for both the instruments on board Euclid and the software we are using to analyze the data produced by those instruments. We will all miss his constant push to do things a little better than we would have accepted as ‘good enough’.”
The Italian Euclid community has suffered a great loss and will long miss its analytical capacity and its important critical sense.
Euclid’s celestial mosaic illustrated by Massimo Meneghetti on MediaInaf Tv:
