First light from ESA's new Euclid space telescope with an ultra high-res, wide-angle lens to map the structures of the universe, helping astronomers study dark matter/energy.
Perseus Cluster of Galaxies
This Moon-sized patch of sky looks back ten billion light-years and shows about 100,000 galaxies, plus some stars from our own galaxy (points with diffraction spikes).
The cluster's Y shape reveals the gravitational influence of dark matter filaments, the web of the universe which until now was too big to fit in any telescope's view.
The Hidden Galaxy (IC 342)
Euclid took only 5 hours to peer through the thickest part of our own galaxy edge-on and capture this galaxy hidden behind it.
Its spiral shape gives us an idea what the Milky Way would look like from above. The image is false color: red has been shifted towards blue so infrared can be shifted up to red we can see.
Irregular Dwarf Galaxy NGC 6822
Just 1.6 million light-years from Earth, this little companion to the Milky Way is so close that until now it could only be captured in low res by ground telescopes or zoomed in to just one small part by Webb or Hubble.
It has a lot of old, low-metal, first-generation stars that can help astronomers study the universe's history.
Globular Star Cluster NGC 6397
It looks similar to a dwarf galaxy, but is much smaller and closer at just 7800 light-years away, and it's within the Milky Way. ďżźPerturbations of its outer stars in streaks and waves give clues about gravitational interactions within the Milky Way.
Again, other telescopes can't see the whole cluster in any detail, both because of its size and the high contrast between the bright center and faint outer stars, which would take Hubble hours to capture. Euclid imaged both in just an hour.
This smear of dust lies in the larger star-forming region of the Orion Nebula just below Orion's belt. It's one of the most busy star nurseries in our vicinity, just 1375 light-years away.
Euclid's resolution is such that close study of this one-hour exposure should reveal many baby stars, brown dwarfs, and young Jupiter-mass planets.
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