Euclid space mission reveals 900 million galaxies in first major data drop

Launched in July 2023, the Euclid mission aims to build the largest 3D map of the universe, covering a third of the sky to better understand dark energy and dark matter. The initial data release covers roughly 14% of the planned mapping area and includes more than 900 million galaxies, 60 million potential quasars, and about 15,000 candidate cases of strong gravitational lensing. Scientists hope that studying these instances of gravitational lensing will help unlock the properties of dark matter, which influences how mass and gravity bend light across space. Further data releases are planned as the mission continues its survey of cosmic history.