The interaction between two distant galaxies, captured by Euclid<\/p>\n
ESA<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n
A mosaic of images from the European Space Agency\u2019s Euclid space telescope captures more than 14 million galaxies, offering a first glimpse of a \u201ccosmic atlas\u201d. The mapping project could add to our understanding of the role dark matter and dark energy play in the structure of the universe.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe scale is utterly incomprehensible,\u201d Carol Mundell, the director of science at the ESA, said during the International Astronautical Congress meeting in Italy. Representing the image at full resolution would require more than 16,000 4K TV screens, she said.<\/p>\n Euclid\u2019s first mosaic image represents only 1 per cent of the final map<\/p>\n ESA<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n The mosaic of 260 images is the first glimpse into Euclid\u2019s project to create the largest and most accurate map of the universe yet. The vast number of galaxies was captured during a two-week survey in April and represents only 1 per cent of the final map. The image covers an area of the southern sky about 500 times the size of the full Moon.<\/p>\n The wispy blue band across the image is dust and gas in the nearby Milky Way, known as \u201cgalactic cirrus\u201d, said Mundell. Zooming in reveals swirling galaxies interacting hundreds of millions of light-years away, some with a supermassive black hole at their centre that can produce gravitational waves measurable on Earth.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Over the next six years, the telescope will autonomously scan about a third of the night sky. The researchers anticipate the final map will show around 8 billion galaxies, each with billions of stars, stretching across 10 billion years of cosmic history.<\/p>\n \n ![\"New](\"https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/15191744\/sei225718634-scaled.jpg\")
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