Euclid mission maps over 900 million galaxies in cosmic survey

The Euclid mission, launched in July 2023, has revealed more than 900 million galaxies across the cosmos. This discovery marks a significant step toward the project’s primary objective: constructing the largest three-dimensional map of the universe ever attempted. The survey covers one-third of the sky and spans over 10 billion years of cosmic history.

New data on quasars and gravity

Recent datasets include approximately 60 million potential quasars, according to The Guardian. These extremely bright objects reside at the centers of distant galaxies and derive their energy from supermassive black holes. The findings are particularly valuable for observing strong gravitational lensing, a phenomenon where light rays from a distant galaxy bend around an intervening galaxy due to its gravity, creating luminous arcs or rings.

This effect is amplified by dark matter, allowing scientists to study how such matter distributes and clumps within galaxies. Such observations may enable tests of various theories regarding the nature and properties of dark matter.

Significant increase in lensing cases

Andy Taylor, a professor at the University of Edinburgh, noted that the new data contains about 15,000 potential strong gravitational lensing cases. This represents a sharp rise from the roughly 1,000 cases previously known. Taylor indicated that the number could reach 170,000 by the end of the mission.

The current data covers approximately 14 percent of the total targeted sky area. Taylor described the output as the highest-resolution image of the universe produced to date.

Future releases and cosmic composition

A new batch of data is expected to be released next summer. This upcoming tranche will include information on galaxy distribution and weak gravitational lensing, which reveals slight distortions in images of distant objects caused by the gravity of dark matter.

The Euclid mission aims to understand the nature of dark matter, believed to constitute about 25 percent of the universe, and dark energy, which accounts for roughly 70 percent. Both remain among the most prominent puzzles facing physicists and astronomers.