Euclid Telescope Captures Largest Image of Milky Way's Centre

The Lead

The European Space Agency's Euclid telescope has captured the largest and most detailed image of the centre of the Milky Way, revealing over 60 million stars and paving the way for a new era of exoplanet discovery.

Euclid Telescope's Groundbreaking Image

Astronomers used the European Space Agency's Euclid telescope to capture the largest, most detailed image ever taken of the visible light pouring from the centre of the Milky Way. The telescope's camera is rare in being sensitive enough to separate individual stars in the crowded region known as the galactic bulge.

The Data Analysis

The image is a mosaic of nine “pointings” taken with the probe’s visible light camera. Each pointing covers an area of the sky larger than the full moon. The €1bn (£862m) telescope launched in 2023 to construct the most accurate 3D map of the cosmos and shed fresh light on the mysterious dark forces that shape it.

The Impact Analysis

The Euclid image will transform the hunt for exoplanets, or worlds that form outside the solar system. One way to spot an exoplanet is to observe its parent star as it moves in front of a faraway star. Through a process called microlensing, the nearer star’s gravity bends the light from the more distant star, making it appear brighter.

The Prediction

Astronomers expect the Nancy Grace Roman space telescope, set to launch in August, to find about 1,500 microlensing exoplanets. The Euclid data will help astronomers to confirm they are transiting planets and not objects such as binary star systems, which can produce similar signals.