A nursery where stars are born, one of five new images published by the European Euclid space telescope.
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A nursery where stars are born, one of five new images published by the European Euclid space telescope.
A staggering number of bright galaxies, a nursery of purple and orange stars and a spiral galaxy similar to our Milky Way: new images were revealed Thursday by the European Euclid space telescope.
This is the second set of images released by the European Space Agency since Euclid launched last year on the first-ever mission to investigate the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy.
The scientific results were also published for the first time during the six-year mission, which aims to use its wide vision to map two billion galaxies across a third of the sky.
Euclid project scientist René Laureijs told AFP he was “personally very excited” about the image of a massive galaxy cluster called Abell 2390.
The image of the cluster, located 2.7 billion light years from Earth, encompasses more than 50,000 galaxies.
A single galaxy, like ours, can host hundreds of billions, even billions, of stars.
Abell 2390 alone contains the mass of about 10 trillion suns, Jason Rhodes of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said during an online news conference.
The image also shows traces of dark matter, whose invisible presence can only be detected by observing how its gravity distorts light.
“There’s so much dark matter in this cluster that it significantly distorts the light from some of these background galaxies,” making them appear curved, Rhodes said.
Scientists hope to find signs of the ever-elusive dark matter in Euclid’s observations of the Abell 2390 cluster containing more than 50,000 galaxies.
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Scientists hope to find signs of the ever-elusive dark matter in Euclid’s observations of the Abell 2390 cluster containing more than 50,000 galaxies.
Dark matter and dark energy are thought to make up 95% of the universe, but we know almost nothing about them.
The Abell 2390 image also hinted at dark matter by revealing the faint light of “orphan stars” drifting between galaxy clusters.
These stars are ejected from the galaxies, “creating a sort of cloud which surrounds the entire cluster”, explained French scientist Jean-Charles Cuillandre to AFP.
Astronomers believe this strange phenomenon indicates the presence of dark matter between galaxies.
A star is born
Euclid also captured the deepest image ever made of Messier 78, a nursery where stars are born 1,300 light-years from Earth in the constellation Orion.
Stars are still forming in the blue center of the image. After millions of years of gestation, they emerge from the purple and orange clouds at the bottom of the image.
The Dorado group of galaxies, in which Euclid discovered a never before seen dwarf galaxy.
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The Dorado group of galaxies, in which Euclid discovered a never before seen dwarf galaxy.
Laureijs pointed out that “only Euclid can show it in one fell swoop.”
Indeed, Euclid has a very wide field of view, unlike fellow space telescope James Webb, its stable-point neighbor hovering 1.5 million kilometers (930,000 miles) from Earth.
Another image, of the immense galaxy cluster Abell 2764, represents a black expanse in which a yellow star stands out.
Cuillandre admitted that this was the result of a telescope pointing error. But he said the image demonstrated “Euclid’s absolutely unique ability to focus light”, as he was still able to pick up very faint objects next to the bright star.
Euclid’s image of the young Dorado cluster contained a surprise. Although the cluster was already well studied, Euclid discovered a never before seen dwarf galaxy, the scientists said.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Cuillandre said.
In the fifth new image, the spiral galaxy NGC 6744, which bears a striking resemblance to the Milky Way, unfolds against a backdrop of bright stars.
The spiral galaxy NGC 6744, located about 30 million light years away, is similar to our Milky Way.
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The spiral galaxy NGC 6744, located about 30 million light years away, is similar to our Milky Way.
On the trail of dark matter
The mission is still in its early stages and the five new images were captured in a single day.
In the coming years, scientists plan to examine Euclid’s data in hopes of spotting all sorts of celestial bodies, such as “rogue” planets, that are free-floating in the universe unrelated to a star.
The bright star shining in the Abell 2764 galaxy cluster may have been the result of an error, but the ESA says it still shows Euclid’s strengths.
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The bright star shining in the Abell 2764 galaxy cluster may have been the result of an error, but the ESA says it still shows Euclid’s strengths.
But researchers have already analyzed the first batch of Euclid’s images, published in November.
In one of ten pre-print studies published Thursday, scientists looked at orphan stars in the Perseus cluster.
These lost stars “are now trapped in the gravity of dark matter,” Laureijs said.
This is only an “indirect detection of dark matter,” he stressed, adding that it was too early “to say anything about dark energy.”
The mission did not go smoothly.
Stars are still forming in the blue center of the Messier 78 stellar nursery, emerging from the orange clouds below.
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Stars are still forming in the blue center of the Messier 78 stellar nursery, emerging from the orange clouds below.
In March, a delicate operation managed to melt a thin layer of ice that had been slowly obscuring the telescope’s view by warming one of the telescope’s mirrors.
There are signs that the ice is building up again, Laureijs said, adding that the team has time to investigate what to do next.
More information:
Euclid’s scientific articles on early release observations will be available from May 23, 2024: www.euclid-ec.org/science/publications/