ESA releases first section of grand mosaic of the sky to be produced by Euclid
For original images, go here, here, and here.
The European Space Agency (ESA) yesterday released the first mosaic section of a grand atlas of the sky that its recently launched Euclid space telescope was designed to produce.
The image to the right, assembled from several images but of very low resolution to post here, will give my readers an idea of Euclid’s capabilities. The top image shows this first mosaic in green, made up of 260 photos, laid on top of the sky atlases produced by the Gaia and Plank orbiting telescopes. As you can see, it covers only about 12% of the sky, but was also produced in only the last six months, since science observations began in February. When complete, the Euclid atlas will cover one third of the sky, and provide very high resolution data for that entire area.
The middle image provides a close-up of that mosaic, albeit in very low resolution.
This first piece of the map already contains around 100 million sources: stars in our Milky Way and galaxies beyond. Some 14 million of these galaxies could be used to study the hidden influence of dark matter and dark energy on the Universe. “This stunning image is the first piece of a map that in six years will reveal more than one third of the sky. This is just 1% of the map, and yet it is full of a variety of sources that will help scientists discover new ways to describe the Universe,” says Valeria Pettorino, Euclid Project Scientist at ESA.
The bottom image, once again at low resolution to post here, zooms into only one small section of that mosaic, and illustrates the high level of detail each Euclid image will contain. Though the details in this photo seem a bit fuzzy, at full resolution they remain remarkably sharp. To get an idea of how good that resolution is, see an earlier Euclid close-up photo released in May.
Euclid doesn’t take pictures with the quite the resolution of Hubble (its primary mirror at 1.2 meters diameter is half the width). While Hubble was designed to zoom in at specific objects and do so over and over if desired, Euclid will instead provide a high resolution snapshot of the entire sky, at a resolution almost as good, in both optical and infrared wavelengths.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation:
5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
For original images, go here, here, and here.
The European Space Agency (ESA) yesterday released the first mosaic section of a grand atlas of the sky that its recently launched Euclid space telescope was designed to produce.
The image to the right, assembled from several images but of very low resolution to post here, will give my readers an idea of Euclid’s capabilities. The top image shows this first mosaic in green, made up of 260 photos, laid on top of the sky atlases produced by the Gaia and Plank orbiting telescopes. As you can see, it covers only about 12% of the sky, but was also produced in only the last six months, since science observations began in February. When complete, the Euclid atlas will cover one third of the sky, and provide very high resolution data for that entire area.
The middle image provides a close-up of that mosaic, albeit in very low resolution.
This first piece of the map already contains around 100 million sources: stars in our Milky Way and galaxies beyond. Some 14 million of these galaxies could be used to study the hidden influence of dark matter and dark energy on the Universe. “This stunning image is the first piece of a map that in six years will reveal more than one third of the sky. This is just 1% of the map, and yet it is full of a variety of sources that will help scientists discover new ways to describe the Universe,” says Valeria Pettorino, Euclid Project Scientist at ESA.
The bottom image, once again at low resolution to post here, zooms into only one small section of that mosaic, and illustrates the high level of detail each Euclid image will contain. Though the details in this photo seem a bit fuzzy, at full resolution they remain remarkably sharp. To get an idea of how good that resolution is, see an earlier Euclid close-up photo released in May.
Euclid doesn’t take pictures with the quite the resolution of Hubble (its primary mirror at 1.2 meters diameter is half the width). While Hubble was designed to zoom in at specific objects and do so over and over if desired, Euclid will instead provide a high resolution snapshot of the entire sky, at a resolution almost as good, in both optical and infrared wavelengths.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation:
5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
The link for the second image is invalid.
David Eastman: Link fixed. Thank you.