EUCLID’s first images have finally arrived, and they are amazing!
After the launch of the space mission EUCLID from the European Space Agency (ESA), the first images from the telescope have arrived in our planet, and they are beautiful. In a previous article from the blog, we presented the mission, if you haven’t read it, go check it out here! Ready to explore the darkness – EUCLID.
The dark energy explorer is navigating through space getting precious data for the scientific community, obtaining high quality images with the help of its visible light camera (VIS) and the Near Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP). The main difference between EUCLID and the James Webb Space Telescope (that are both giving amazing pictures from unexplored places in space) is their reach, since EUCLID captures a wider detailed range.
So far, ESA has been able to see and publish images from:
- The Perseus Cluster of galaxies: one of the most massive objects known in the universe, located 235 million light-years from Earth (closest cluster to earth). Contains up to 190 galaxies.
- Spiral galaxy IC 342: Difficult to observe spiral galaxy due to the dust near the galactic equator, also known as “the hidden galaxy”, due to this difficulty, has been spotted by EUCLID thanks to its infrared sensors.
- Horsehead Nebula: very suggestive visually, part of the Orion constellation and quite known in popular culture for its shape and colors, making appearances in WALL-E, Doctor Who, Good Omens and others.
These are just a few examples of what has been captured so far by the mission. In the upcoming months, EUCLID will continue its mission to uncover the unknown. We are looking with anticipation for future discoveries that will change drastically the way we interpret space!