Euclid telescope releases first major data set with billions of galaxies

First data release details

This fresh collection spans a celestial region nearly 10,000 times larger than the entire moon. It contains images of around 900 million galaxies and 60 million quasars. With a size of 1.7 million gigabytes, the collection contains roughly 2.5 trillion pixels. Astronomers can now look back to when the universe was only 700 million years old.

Mission goals and scope

Leiden astronomer Koen Kuijken explains that Euclid sees more than 100 times as much sky in one image as Hubble. During its six-year mission, the telescope generates approximately 20 new images daily. It will map a third of the entire sky to study dark matter and dark energy. Professor Alessandra Silvestri notes these ingredients make up 95 percent of the universe while visible matter accounts for only 5 percent.

Future physics tests planned

Researchers will analyze patterns in galaxy positions and shapes to test if laws of physics work on cosmic scales. Postdoctoral researcher Guadalupe Cañas Herrera is developing tools needed to tackle this statistical challenge. The first results of these gravity tests will be published in June 2027. This initial release marks an important milestone but represents only the beginning of the scientific adventure.