Euclid telescope unveils first 208-gigapixel image of southern sky

The European Space Agency's Euclid telescope has released its first image, a 208-gigapixel mosaic of the southern sky. This image covers an area over 500 times larger than the full moon and includes about 14 million galaxies. This initial image represents just 1% of the planned six-year survey, which aims to explore dark energy and dark matter. The telescope can also detect faint clouds of gas and dust in the Milky Way, known as galactic cirrus. Launched in July 2023, the Euclid mission will eventually map two billion galaxies, enhancing our understanding of the universe's structure and history.